Baticul, Kimlasca-Lanvaldear, ND 2025 Undine-Decan 12, Gnomeday
"Queen Natalia? Queen Natalia?" the servant walked around the hallways of the castle, uncertain of where the Queen was. It was time for her audience with the Representative of the New Order of Lorelei. Natalia was in the library, asleep against a book trying to come up with a valid solution for the slight economic decline, and she didn't trust her economic advisor completely. The maid walks in and wakes the Queen. "Milady Natalia, the Maestro is here. She requests to see you immediately, and she's a fairly pushy girl."
Natalia sat up, her golden hair in a mess, and incredibly unkempt for having fallen asleep in the library, her dress was wrinkled and she looked down the books, her eyelids heavy and she has trouble keeping them open. "Tell the Maestro I will be with them in a moment." She dismisses the servant and she stands, walking down the hallway and up to her chambers, where she spends the long nights alone. Her eyes crawl to the mirror and she hurries to fix up her appearance, brushing her hair down and changing into a different dress so that the wrinkles are gone. She sighed heavily, the workload as of late getting too much for her to keep up with on her own.
Down in the Audience Hall, the Maestro of the New Order of Lorelei was walking around frantically, looking at all the statues and paintings with a avaricious eye. "Ooh Wow! Look at all the expensive art! I wish I had money like this!" Despite the fact that she lived at the Cathedral in Daath, the Maestro was still envious of the personal wealth of the Nobility of Malkuth and Kimlasca-Lanvaldear. She walked up and sat on Natalia's throne, looking at the doorway and tried to picture what it must be like to be Queen, and she sighs emphatically.
The young Queen finally was satisfied with her appearance and looked at her schedule for today. She picks up a piece of paper and looks down at the Maestro's audience. They were to discuss a tariff cut for Kimlasca-Lanvaldear for importing and exporting goods through Daath, due to the weakened Kimlascan Economy. The Queen turned and walks down into the hallway, her white gloves running down the perfectly polished and cleaned handrail, and past a few guards, until she gets to the large entry hall. Natalia carries herself into the audience chamber and stops in her walk when she sees who the representative is, and the fact that she is sitting in her spot. "Anise?! You are the Maestro who has come to represent Daath?"
Anise grins widely and hops up off of the throne, her black hair is shoulder length and well combed, as opposed to the pigtails Natalia was used to, and she walks over to Natalia. "Why do you ask it like that?! Do you think I can't represent The Order's interests?! I can Natalia. I'm going to be the Fon Master one day." her hand rests on her hips, as she looks Natalia in the eyes. Natalia smiled warmly, Anise hadn't changed, at least in her personality, she definitely looked older and more mature. "I never said that Anise. I was just surprised that you decided to leave Daath to discuss economics." Anise turns for a moment and walks back towards the throne, before turning and grinning widely. "I didn't come here to only do that. I came to see Luke! "
Natalia shook her head, Luke was seeing Tear, though they had been dating for years and she hadn't seen it go anywhere, Tear being as busy as she was with her position in the New Oracle Knights, as Luke was busy representing Kimlasca to Malkuth and Daath as Ambassador, they hardly ever saw each other. "You came at a bad time. Duke Fabre is in St. Binah. I'm afraid you wasted your time. Now, should we get down to business? We can catch up after we reach a conclusion Maestro Tatlin." Natalia gestures to the conference room and orders that there will be no more meetings for the day and Natalia and Anise disappear into the conference room.
Padamyian Continent, Daath Harbor, ND 2025 Undine-Decan 12, Gnomeday
Commandant Grants steps off of the Oracle Ship, her red and black uniform heavily decorated and her eyes dart around, smiling unnoticeably at the familiar port. She turns and walks to the inn, opening the door she walks inside, and reserves herself a room. She had been up for forty continuous hours and was exhausted, and she most certainly needed to sleep. Walking into the bedroom, she locks the door and looses up her uniform a little. She looks around, it was a plain room, not much but a bed and a desk, the bathroom was down the hall as usual at these inns, and she sighs heavily. She knew she had to write her Mission Reports and Troop Evaluations, so with a heavy sigh she sits down at the desk and begins to fill out her mission report.
Her report starts a week ago…"Undine Decan 5, Gnomeday. The reports of a Replica riot against the "Original" population in Engeve were not exaggerated. The Replicas had taken Engeve as their own, holding the citizens hostage. The New Oracle Knights attempted to negotiate with the Radical Replicas, but were unable to earn their trust as we were "Originals". Sent a letter to Duke Fabre, requesting his aid as a mediator to the replica population, but we received no response. I ordered a perimeter be put around the city, to prevent the riots from heading further out into the other cities.
Undine Decan 6, Remday. The Replica's released a few of the "Originals" though we could not tell in some cases, as they were replicas of people in the city. They announced their ultimatum to us; they wanted Engeve as their own. They wanted it to be a refuge for their kind, untouched by "Originals". It appears the Order is going to have trouble keeping this rift from growing larger. We again attempted to negotiate, only to have them kill an "Original". We maintained our perimeter through the day.
Undine Decan 7, Lunaday. We received a response from House Fabre; Luke will be here by the end of Ifritday this week. Hopefully the Replicas will talk to Luke, or else force may be necessary, and that won't be a good image to give for the New Order. It will also be counter-productive to our sealing the rift between Replicas and "Originals". The Oracle Knights stayed out of the city again for that day, and awaited the Kimlascan Duke.
Undine Decan 8, Ifritday. Nothing particularly productive early in the day, Luke Fon Fabre, arrived at 1400 hours. He and I were able to enter the city and begin negotiations. They were still wary of the "Halfling" as they call Luke. They refer to Luke that way due to the fact his body is an "Original" but his mind is that of a Replica. They can however tell that he has undergone the "Big Bang" effect. So they were willing to talk. Negotiations started, unfortunately not much was agreed upon, but we did open a channel of communication, which was a start.
Undine Decan 9, Undineday. We agreed to pull the perimeter back, to allow the replicas some breathing room, and they agreed to release the hostages. They set the "Originals" free and they were to be escorted to St. Binah. We also agreed to consult the Emperor of Malkuth, to get either Engeve to be a Replica refuge or to have some other city built for them. Luke Fon Fabre told them that the Perimeter will remain until a decision can be reached, and he accompanied the "Originals" to St. Binah and is helping them get settled. I passed on my command to the Dorian Colonel that was in the ranks at the time and took one of our ships to Grand Chokmah.
Undine Decan 10, Sylphday. Arrived in Grand Chokmah, scheduled an Audience with his Imperial Majesty. Met with Brigadier General Curtiss (whom after all these years finally accepted a promotion) and tried to get an assessment of the ramifications of taking Engeve by force. Assessment included in Personal Report. At 1700 I met with Emperor Peony Malkuth IX, and delivered the demands of the Replica's to him. Deliberation is still in progress.
Undine Decan 11, Loreleiday. Departed on the Oracle ship to St. Binah and spent the day with the "Originals" trying to understand how the situation got so escalated. This story also is included in my personal report. Spent the rest of the day on "Personal Leave".
Locrian General Mystearica Aura Grants, Commandant Oracle Knights, Conductor of the Order of Lorelei."
She sighed in exhaustion and put the report away, after making a copy of it for her journal as was her habit, and she took off her jacket hanging it up in the closet, as she changed into her night gown. She neatly hung her uniform in the closet before retiring to bed that night. In the darkness, sleep did not come easy as she tossed and turned relentlessly, fearing for the safety of the world, and as much as it hurt her to think this, she felt more sympathy to the replicas than the originals. After several hours she finally managed to get to sleep.
St. Binah, Malkuth Empire, ND 2025 Undine-Decan 12, Gnomeday.
He tapped his fingers against the desk impatiently, not quite sure why he has to sit here and listen to some General go on and on about the "audacity of this young Duke to think he can move a whole city without even asking the consent of the St. Binan authorities." Luke raised his head to look at the General and just said, "So what? You would have rather had me wipe out Engeve to save a few hostages? Consider it a minor inconvenience. Peony will back us up here…as will Jade Curtiss. Thank you though for your hospitality!" he stands angrily and just leaves the Military base. "Ungh…the nerve of some people! They have no consideration for other people's feelings. They don't care...at all."
Luke walked back to the inn, and he paid for another room, and then flopped down onto the bed. He couldn't get the events of what he saw out of his head, he saw Replicas…people like himself, striking down their own Originals in -cold blood-. Am I different? He thought as he raised his hands to look at them. I killed Asch. I was the one who was responsible for his death. If I hadn't have beaten him…we might have killed Van together and both of us survived. The Duke inhales deeply and exhales loudly, unable to really clear his head. Still he felt alright that he could at least bridge the gap between these two feuding "races" as some might call them, though he felt like that was a negative term. They were Kimlascans, Malkuth, and Daathic people as much as Natalia, Jade, and Anise were. He rolled over to pick some paper and a pen and writes a letter to Daath. He pours out his most recent reflections upon the "Replica Revolts" he's witnessed lately, the one in Engeve one of the worst ones, but certainly not the first he's seen. He doesn't sign it at that point, but he does fold it up and put it in an envelope that seems to have two other letters in it.
The nobleman then gets out of bed and walks back out into the square to buy some food. He shops for a little bit, looking at that simple act and wondering how many replicas had been killed or jailed for stealing. He couldn't help but dwell on these riots, they were something he was especially sympathetic to, and if some things had gone differently, he might be participating in. He just couldn't settle his mind, and he really wishes someone he knew well was here. It didn't matter much to him at the moment; he was taking the Albiore II to Daath tomorrow, which brightened his spirits a little. He was going to visit Tear, though he imagined she'd be busy as well, he hoped he could get a little out of her before her work dragged her away…again. Honestly he sometimes questioned if it was a worthwhile relationship he had with her. He sometimes wondered if it would be better if he just moved on, rather than stay with a workaholic.
Still, something about all of this seemed to make him uneasy, something he couldn't quite place and he didn't know exactly what it was. He figured it was better not to worry about it anyways, as it was probably just his empty stomach plus his tiredness catching up with him. He called an Oracle Soldier over to him and asked him to spar, the soldier was hesitant at first, but figured it would be good to see someone of Luke's supposed skill in action. Luke drew his sword, as did the soldier, but the bout was brief. Luke parried the blow from the soldier and slammed his hand into the soldier's chest, a burst of fonic energy blowing the soldier back. Disappointed in the skill of this Oracle Knight, the young Kimlascan returned to the small inn and lay down on the modest bed.
Grand Chokmah, Malkuth Empire, ND 2025, Undine-Decan 12, Gnomeday
"….and that is the story Sir Peony." The Brigadier General looked up at the Emperor through the frames of his glasses, his red eyes staring at the monarch as if burning to the very heart of his being. "Hunh. Well those guys generally know what they're talking about. See if the Replicas will go for that Jade." The nonchalant attitude of the emperor annoys an awful lot of people, but this Brigadier General seemed unaffected. After all he had known the Emperor since they were kids, and there were few people who understood Jade as well as Peony.
As the Brigadier General walks towards the doors of the Palace, a blonde haired man is pulled in by a horde of rappigs, each one named for one of Peony's friends. "My My. Guy that seems to be quite the mess you've gotten yourself into. I would have assumed a strong young lad like you would be able to handle some Rappigs." Jade commented snarkily. "You try it!" Guy yelled as he struggled to hold the rappigs still, as they were coming home to feed. "I'm afraid not. At my age, my joints ache, and my bones shake. I would be torn apart by those creatures. That's the work of the youth I'm afraid, Guy." Jade walks out of the Palace towards the Military base that he was so accustomed to.
Gailardia Galen Gardios took the rappigs back to Peony's room and lets them go, shutting the door quickly behind them as he slumps down by the door, breathing heavily. "Man, and I thought babysitting Luke was a pain." Guy looks up at the Palace ceiling, his eyes dancing along the intricate carvings on the ceiling and he looks over at the wall across from him. Then his gaze shifted out one of the big glass windows, and down at the courtyard in front of the castle. The swordsman stood and looked out the window more carefully, watching people play, and just the daily bustle of life occur. He had heard about the issues going on in the world, but no one had really briefed him, just hushed rumors and other word of mouth, unreliable things like that.
Emperor Peony at the same time stood from his throne and stretched a bit, then turning and walking out of the Audience hall of his Palace. He walked out into the courtyard and down to the post office, even though hed didn't have to pick up his mail he thought it might be advantageous for him if he did. Though really his true reasons lie in some of the new staff they have at the post office, lovely ladies that they were, he didn't mind going to the other end of his grounds to see them.
"Mornin' Ladies." The Young Monarch said as he walked into the mail house, and the two blonde girls turned to face him. "Good Morning your Majesty." They smiled and giggled a little at him, and he stood at the counter. A large stack of letters was sitting on the table in front of him and he sighed when he looked at them. "For me?" he asked as he points to the stack, and the young maids nod their heads with a giggle. He reluctantly picks up the stack of letters and carries them back to the castle. One of them catches his eye immediately. It was from Keterburg.
Peony puts down most of the stack, and opens the one letter reading it thoroughly,
"Your Majesty Peony the Ninth,
The Citizens of Keterburg have been particularly adamant about not accepting replicas into the community. The Order of Lorelei has made very little effort in changing the hearts of these people, and the tension is unfortunately rising here in Keterburg. I have passed all sorts of rules and regulations, and even made arrests for unlawful discrimination, but it appears now as if the Replicas want nothing to do with us. I have heard about replica riots elsewhere, and would really not like Keterburg to be the next Tower of Rem. I don't want to spill senseless amounts of replica blood to protect my people. After all the replicas are my people. Please send aid.
Oh, and Peony. Don't let Jade know about this. It's our little secret.
Viscount Nephry Osbourne, Governor of Keterburg."
Peony walked up to his room, his hair falling over his face as he lowers his head into his palm. What am I going to do? Luckily for him he sees Guy out of the side of his eye. "Guy! Gailardia Galen Gardios. I need you to do something for me pal." The Swordsman turned and looked at Peony. "Yes your Majesty?" The look in Peony's eyes is serious, more serious than normal, knowing that things can get dangerous when it comes to riots, and they are dealing with his hometown. "Come here…I need to talk to you." The Emperor leads him into his room, the rappigs moving out of the way as Peony sits on his bed. "I need you to go to Keterburg."
Guy looked up in surprise. "Of course your Majesty! May I ask why you are sending me there?" Peony sighed and told Guy of what has been going on in the world up until now. Guy just stared for a moment, "So replicas have been rising up against…"Originals"? And this isn't just the first time?" Peony nodded, "Yes. I need you to go to Keterburg…Protect Nephry and the citizens. Alright? I'll call Sheridan and have them fly the Albiore III over here. Unless you prefer ships?" Guy shook his head. The Albiore was a better way to get there.
Meanwhile in his office, Brigadier General Jade Curtiss was filling out some paperwork related to the recent Replica Revolt and considering authorizing seizing it by force. He thought though that he should head to Engeve and talk to them. Introduce himself…after all they were children of his brain, they were his responsibility. Perhaps he could make them a beautiful part of society. He stands up and walks out of his office, and to this certain bar in the noble district. "Scotch. Make if quick youngster." He says to the barkeep as he waits for him to bring him his drink.
Upon his entry into the bar, a fairly large man gets up and walks out of the bar, wearing a large black trenchcoat, and the General's red eyes dart over to him and follow him out. Suspicious…perhaps a criminal? Convict? No…they'd just hide from the guards. Something more then. "Ah…excuse me sir!" The general raised his hand. "You dropped some gald." The Large Man turned around and took the gald from him. "Thank you" and then he walked out. That wasn't -his- gald. That was mine. I suppose he didn't want to raise suspicion or attention by turning it down. Or maybe he needed it. Still…there are better ways to do so. He turns as he hears his drink hit the bar and he turns and sips at it, not letting his mind dwell on the suspicious man, knowing he has more pressing things to worry about.
He finishes his drink in silence and heads down to the pier to board a landship. When he gets onboard one of the newest Malkuth Land Dreadnaught, the Tartarus II, and sets it on course for Engeve. His crew isn't sure why he ordered the approach. "When we get to the city, merge with the Oracle Perimeter. I will proceed on foot. No one is to follow me. Understood?" The soldiers all make a loud "Yessir" and Jade retreats to his cabin on the ship.