-Cultural Clash-
[Coming Together]
[5E, 42, 19th of Sun's Dawn.]
Right now, Henrietta is being surrounded. Not by Marauders like last time, she is perfectly safe, but she would argue that her situation is just as nerve-wracking, if not even more than being targeted by bandits, for at this very moment, she is walking down the road with not one, not two, but four different Elves at all side. One has ashen gray skin with crimson eyes similar to a Brigand that attacked her and Agnes two days back, the other has a vibrant, almost golden complexion with a towering stature that is only matched by Odgrub, who by his side is yet another Elf, far shorter than almost everyone in this group, being around the same height as the Crown Princess...And another Elf that possessed a rather large asset in the chest area of the body, clinging closely to seemingly the only other Human in this colorful band of travelers.
The reason behind the sudden bloat in the number of people in this group can be explained by the fact that most of them were the Siblings of Odgrub, who picked them up along the way since they were in the area. Each of them introduced themselves immediately after meeting Herientta, who they recognized as the friend of their Mother, Louise. Doetnel was the name of the shorter Elf, the youngest of the Elven Siblings and a Huntress by trade, as well as a Member of the Companion, a Guild of Fighters said to have their origin traced back to Ysgramor and the Five Hundred, briefly informed as an important figure in Skyrim's History that they will talk more in details on some other time. So far, what little interaction the Crown Princess had with the Wood Elf can be boiled down to Doetnel expressing interest in the sort of creature that inhabits Halkeginia and constantly pestering the poor girl about it to no end, only stopping when Valsei told her to.
Speaking of which, that is the name of the Dark Elf, who can best be described as somber, choosing only to speak when he strictly needed to. Other than that, he kept to himself for the most part, keeping his distance from the Halkeginian, in stark contrast to his Twin Viarir, the Golden Elf, a rather... interesting... Individual as far as personality goes. Supposedly, beyond the fact that he is a high-ranking member of the Clever Craft based in Cyrodiil, indicating that he is a skilled Mage, he is a renowned writer and a bard as well, with a keen fascination for the History of Henrietta's homeland, diligently documenting everything she told him into parchments with great enthusiasm, to the amusement of the Majority of his Siblings and exasperation of Lucia, the owner of Goldenhill Planation that they made a detour to, and a Breton, apparently being a race of Men with Elven Ancestry, the discovery of which nearly caused the Princess to faint in shock and horror, narrowly avoid doing just that thanks to Agne catching her fall before she hit the ground.
Such a thing nearly repeated itself when she learned that the only one who was not part of the Valliere, the Blonde Elf, was apparently from Halkeginia as well. In other words, the same type of Elf found in her world, causing both her and Agnes to tense up in alarm, with the latter nearly drawing her sword had it not been for Viarir playing the role of a mediator and appeasing the situation before it spiraled out of control. However, it did not stop the Knight from shielding her Princess from the Halkeginian Elf, Tiffania as she is called, who remains blissfully unaware of the thinly veiled hostility directed toward her way due to her attention being directed elsewhere, namely her surroundings, watching the Tundra of Whiterun with fascination of a child, and given that she spent most of her life in isolation, none of the other Vallieres blamed her.
Though they eventually need to bring her attention back to reality, as soon they arrive at their destination, a wayshrine that by exchanging twenty gold pieces, produced a Portal that leads this band of travelers to a different set of environment altogether, much to the amazement of Tiffania and Henrietta, who finally get to see how the Wayshrine actually worked now that she is wide awake, making her wondered about the sheer possibilities the application of such structure would have back in her world, while Agnes was more subdued in her reaction, having experienced this beforehand at the Imperial City, though she had to admit, the ability to cover a long distance in a matter of second that cost only around a dozen or so Septim was truly astonishing, even if she is not all that fond of Magic or those that wielded them. Though her opinion aside, they should get moving.
Heading toward the Dock below, this colorful group, who has gathered no small amounts of stares from the people at their way, much to the annoyance of some of them, found themselves trapped in quite a dilemma; Being that there is there is seven of them, but only two ferrymen are available for them to hire, whose boat can carry only around two at maximum. Normally there would be three, enough for all of them, but one has already been rented by a couple in strange garb not too long ago, leaving them stuck trying to figure out a solution to this conundrum of theirs. At first, Henrietta suggests that she cast levitation on herself along with some others and carry them to the island, but there are two distinct problems with it, namely that she would have the Willpower Reserves to maintain the spell, despite being a Triangle Class Mage, and even if she does have the energy to do that, due to the Levitation Act imposed by the Septim Empire, which is still in effect even now, she cannot use it without facing legal repercussion, that was until the resounding thump of footsteps echoes on the creaking surface of the wooden platform that made them perked up, like the one who made those sound intentionally does so to gain their attention.
And indeed, when they turned their focus to the individual who made the needlessly loud sound toward their way, did the members of the Valliere realized that is very much the case, for the one that did it was not just anybody. With a stream of beard finely trimmed upon his visage, the Man who possessed a deep skin tone, a Redguard, clad in the most luxurious robe of white fur coat and crimson garb that beaten even the like of the Royal Dress Henrietta was wearing in terms of sheer quality that even ordinary person could recognize, approached them, to which a massive grin grown onto his face as he spread his arm wide open, and unleashed a thundering guffaw, "Ahahaha! If it isn't my melting pots of siblings! You finally show up! Both Sofie and Blaise are tired of waiting you know!" Siblings? Then is this one of Louise's Children? Just how many kids did the Princess' Best Friend take in? "We'll just about to depart! Quite lucky of you to show up right now!" Gesturing toward the nearby Ship with a pointed thumb, the Man laughed even more, feeling particularly peachy at the moment, and how could he not? His Brothers and Sisters arrived just in the nick of time when everybody was about to raise the anchor and leave. Luck must have favored him once again.
"Well, it looks like we have a ship. Thanks, Alesan." If what their Elder Brother has said holds any truth to them, then it is a good thing they did not stop to make any further detour, or else they would have narrowly missed the Ship. Though hearing what Alesan just told them made Valsei perked up, "Hold on, Sofie is already here? When did she get here?" Blaise, he could understand. After all, the Imperial lived in Proudspire Manor, located inside the wall of Solitude, due to his status as the Legate of the Imperial Legion's Branch in Skyrim that required him to be present at the Blue Palace's court most of the time. Walking to the dock will only cost him a few minutes at best, resulting in him never having to fret about going late unless he deliberately does so, and knowing the steadfast legionnaire that he is, that would never be the case. A real strait-laced citizen of the Empire, that one is.
But the fact that Sofie arrived early came as a genuine surprise for Valsei and his siblings. Just about everyone in the Valliere Household knows that the Arch-mage of the Family would consistently attend late. Not as bad as Lucia who would occasionally forget about the Gathering entirely, irking the Breton anytime someone brought that up, but it happened far more regularly in comparison, so much so that everyone sort of half-expected her to be late again. Though it would seem today is not one of those days. Not to say it's a bad thing of course. That just means they would not have to wait for her to finally show up to start.
"Oh, she was here since yesterday with Father. Apparently, she used one of those transportation spells he has been working on these past few days to send both herself and Father to Solitude. Scared me half to death when they just appeared out of thin air like that." Although he does not understand the intricacies of the Clever Craft, Divines knows that all of his intelligence goes to management, Alesan at least knows that the experimental scroll that his sister utilized to get to Haafingar operated the same Principles as a Wayshrine, which in his honest opinion, make the Redguard wondered why doesn't she just make use of the structure, since they are there for a reason. Sure, it brought Father along too, but Windstad Manor is not that far from Solitude, and their Family has their own personal carriage driver, making the spell seem rather redundant to him, but what does he know? He's a merchant, not a Mage.
"Father's here too?! Yes!" Doetnel cheered, excitement mounting. It has been months since she last seen her Old Man, having spent that time doing odd jobs here and there as well as Missions for the Companions. Suffice it to say, the Bosmer looks forward to seeing both him and later her Mother as well. Same goes for Henrietta as well, surprised by the news, but overall, quite curious as to what kind of man her Best Friend has entered a union with. Odgrub does not mention anything about his adopted Father, not even his name, so she doesn't have the slightest idea what to expect from this person, but she hopes that he is a good man. Her best friend deserved to be happy.
"Right, enough waiting around, let's go." Not wanting to waste any more time, especially when the Imperial Guard stationed on the ship was calling out to them to hurry it up, everyone began boarding the massive vessel as the anchor was withdrawn into the watercraft as it began to turn, heading northwest toward the secluded island at that general direction. Now that the ship was on the move, everybody began to settle into their position, while the Group of travel began to head down to the lower deck, going toward the quarter area, where inside, lounging at the table was Sofie, enthralled in the Book An Herbalist Guide to Tamriel, heedless to the surrounding or the multiple presences that entered the chamber, with the only one that did being two individuals. One was an Imperial, Blaise, in the middle of discarding his plated Legion armor in order to put on something more appropriate for the occasion. The other was a Nord, with a rather rugged appearance. Scars covered his muscle-bound arms that told of the many battles he endured and survived, eyes that possessed an analytical gleam of an experienced fighter in them, and his relaxed yet steady posture was one that belonged to a veteran in combat, the kind that Agnes is intimately familiar with, letting the Knight that this individual is not an average man.
Then again, it's hard to be average when you are the father of ten different children of various races, who when he saw the majority of them at the doorway, brought a smile on his surprisingly youthful features, "Ah! All of you are here! Come! Sit down! let me get some drinks for you." Picking himself up from his seat, the Nord went toward the cabinet suspended on the walls, retrieving a couple of Mead's Bottles from inside and placing them on the table, which he beckoned them to join.
"Father! It's so good to see you again!" Doetnel immediately accepted the offer without hesitation, making herself comfortable on the seat facing the Patriarch of the Valliere Family, "How have you been as of late? Have you been eating well? No illnesses I hope?"
"Come now, Doetnel, that's disrepectful."
"It's alright Blaise, and please, Doetnel, you are saying that as if I'm an old man." Well, he is fairly old by the standard for the Races of Men, but not to the extent that he struggled to perform basic tasks, and as a Nord, his strength has not remotely waned at all. If anything, he felt as though he was getting more and more vigorous as he grew older, like he was aging backward, "Now, are you going to introduce your friends to me?" That aside though, he is more interested in the brand new faces among the familiar ones, motioning toward Henrietta, her Knight, and the Blonde Elf specifically.
"Yes, Father. This here is Princess Henrietta de Tristain, her Knight Agnes, and Tiffania Westwood. All of them are from the same place as mother." Taking the initiative, Viarir introduced them on their behalf, watching the Nord's expression morph into one of surprise, then understanding as he nodded, once again rising from his seat, followed by him approaching the Crown Princess of Tristain and extending an open hand to her with a bright, reassuring smile.
"Hello there, my name is Erik, Former Adventurer. Louise has told me a lot about you. It's a pleasure to finally meet you in person. I look forward to learning more about you." If there is anything that resembled a positive memories that Louise ever told her husband about in regards to her Homeland of Halkeginia, other than her Elder sister Cattleya, the treasured time she spent with Henrietta of the Crown, whom the Valliere has a close connection to due to her Mother once serving them as a Commander to their Manticore Knights, during her childhood was a close contender for that spot, holding the closest person she ever had to an actual friend in high regard, being one of the few people that she still remembers fondly of to this day in the midst of the painful recollection of the Ghost in the distant past. While they have come back to haunt her, Erik was glad that the Princess is here, give his beloved wife something to cheer her up during these stressful times.
"Likewise. And you said you were an adventurer? Mind telling me about some of them?" Hearing about the tales he might have in store may be a good way to pass the time while they traversed through the sea to their destination. Not to mention, she might learn how he and Louise met.
"Oh, gladly! Me and Louise used to travel together, going way back. See, we met around forty-four years ago, at the Inn that my Father runs…"
"You know Barbas, after that whole Umbriel Fiasco back then, you would think nothing could get worse than that. But oh no, that damn Nede just has to steal a portion of MY realm and turn it into…THIS!"
"Well, He didn't exactly steal it so much as you gave it to him…"
"I thought it was funny at the time! I never intended to let him keep it in the first place! But oh nooooo, I left for an Era or two, and This…THIS is what I came back to?! Absolutely disgusting!"
"I don't think it's all that bad…I mean, you don't need it anymore. The Fields of Regret can recover from this. What's wrong with giving this world some individuality?"
"Quiet, you little Mutt. I won't let this one be taken away from me like those accursed trees took Umbriel."
"Even if it means Louise might come after your rear for this?"
"Bah, she wouldn't care. Besides, I'd Wager she will have a lot to keep her Occupied. Like with Sanguine."
To be Continued...