Deadly Decadent Court: the RP

I know that there are already fantasy threads and medieval threads -- but what if we combined them? Elves, dwarves, ogres, nobles, they're all welcome.

Sign up here: http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/role-playing-and-communal-story-building/threads/34143

And please! No one-liners!

The Boy King, Malachi, has called all of his allies save one -- and his court -- from the far reaches of the continent to discuss a problem of great importance. The princess Astrid, heir-apparent of the neighbouring kingdom, has shown up on his doorstep with her Lady Knight, claiming that her uncle, the regent, had her death staged and had her spirited away so he could keep the throne.

This is a call to arms, a war meeting. Will they band together and rise up against the regent? Or will they let the princess languish in exile?

However, it isn't all fun and games. After the business has been taken care of, there will be games, a ball, and a feast enough to make a starving man weep with joy. And of course, there is always the usual Court trickery: a drop of poison in a wine glass, a knife in the back; anything to get ahead and curry the Boy King's favor.
Will you stay a few nights in the Boy King’s Deadly, Decadent Court?

The Boy King sighed through his nose as a headache began to manifest between his temples. Tension made breathing a fluttery affair, half-gasps through slightly parted lips, and it was more than a little annoying. He was King; he wasn’t supposed to get nervous!

He shifted slightly on his throne, his legs hooked over the arm of it; his spine contorted and slumped to make it a comfortable slouch. If his aunt saw him, she’d probably faint. He kept his head bent and studied the book in his lap. The words had long ago lost any meaning, and he wondered how long he’d been staring down at the same page. Though he would dearly love to learn about the history of magic in his realm, it was hard to both be scholarly, and breathe through a panic attack at the same time.

He wet his lips and pushed his lank hair back away from his face. He grimaced and wiped his hands on his trousers right after. Blast it all, he’d washed this morning! He closed his book and flung himself from his throne. His court and council would be arriving soon -- very soon; he couldn’t meet them like this!

“Jester,” he snapped, if only to cover the hitch of his breathing. His eyes flickered from shadow to shadow where his fool usually lurked, “Jester, I have need of you.”

Yalaedra Faraeri was one of those few dragons that did not particularly enjoy flying. It made her slightly queasy, and as her red wings were a bit on the underdeveloped side, they got very sore indeed propelling her carriage sized body into the air. Needless to say, she avoided flying as much as possible.

But sometimes, roving along on the ground simply would not do, and this was one of those times. So here she was, destroying her shoulders, trying not to vomit on the ground hundreds of feet below. The magical compass-map in her right talon was growing very hot. Surely the Boy King's palace had to be somewhere around here?

At last she spotted it- a white granite construction that looked to be roughly square from the air, with a few off-shooting turrets and spires. She gently decreased her flapping until she was only about fifty feet in the air, and then glided down the rest of the distance. Her massive white claws dug into soft, crumbly dirt. She at last folded her wings up, and her screaming muscles quieted slightly.

She eyeballed the portcullis of the castle. It was undeniably large, but she still wouldn't be able to fit through it. She contorted her long, tail so that it faced her front claws and gently opened the suede bag knotted to it. She withdrew a tiny black ball, no bigger than a marble and as inky and wet as her eyes, and pressed it against her forehead. With a faint pop, the huge dragon was replaced by a small goblin wearing silken clothes. The goblin put her orb back into the pouch, walked over the drawbridge, and stepped through the open portcullis. Here at last.

[A week before]

Rory Black woke up early in the morning, just before dawn, to again run through his supplies needed for his almost-week-long journey to the Castle of Belladonna. At the moment, he had only heard rumors of the young King requesting a War Meeting. But he was not going to let this get in the way of his own plans.

In his tent was his young adopted sister, Yulei, and his pet cat-dragon, Ferazo, curled up in a warm ball. Rory savored this sweet image in his mind, for he might not see them again for several weeks. He pushed the thought out of his mind and picked up his weapon satchel and supply bag. He packed light, for he knew the journey will leave him plenty of time to hunt and gather food. He stepped out of the tent and looked around at his small villiage.

Rory was a little wary of leaving his people alone, without a leader, but he had hope that they will get on just fine, what with his finest fighter and best friend, Linua, took over in his abscence. Gods, would he miss her most of all. Rory gave a nervous glance over to her tent, pressed his finger tips to his lips, then out towards her tent, and set off, having already given out goodbyes the night before.

"It's quite big, isn't it?"

Emkai looked up to where Seta sat with Urungor on the great stag. Her olive-colored eyes, which already looked twice as big as a regular human's, were open so wide they seemed to take up most of her face. He didn't see anything especially impressive about the castle himself. It was large, sure, but all fortresses were.

"Aye, it is." Urungor smiled at her as though she were a curious child, the corner of his ice blue eye crinkling while his beard twitched. "They build great settlements in this part of the world to keep out invaders."

"Invaders like Rusgar?" The words that came out from under Emkai's hood were cold and angry. They only elicited a roar of laughter from his captor.

"In most cases. But we aren't here on a raiding party, are we? I'd have brought a score of deer-riders with me if we were, not a gift. No, it's bad taste to attack places you hope to trade with."

The rope attached to Emkai's shackles went taut as the stag was urged forward, and seething he followed Urungor to the castle gates.

Seta gave him a sad glance from over her shoulder. She quite liked the fireman, who besides Omaron was the closest thing she had to a friend. Would he really be sold off here? Was there any chance she'd see him again?

Soon they'd arrived at the gate, and Urungor pulled up sharply. The stag snorted with apparent impatience, pawing at the ground and giving passersby a look that sent them on their way a little more quickly than before. The Rusgar didn't seem to notice; he was waiting for someone to admit him into the castle.

Rune sighed. He stood slightly behind the throne, in a position where he could see anyone that came in or out of the room. "My liege" he muttered "You'll be fine. You are the King. If anyone poses a threat to you, I will personally remove them from your prescence."

~~~~~~~
((Do the court officials live in the castle or near it?))

Thoth awoke and began to get ready for another day in the Boy-King's court. He put on a suit and a festive cape to match. The next few minutes were spent standing in front of the mirror, admiring himself. After adding the final touch, his special ring (you could never be too careful), he walked out the door.

((A slight edit, as TotalNerd had the portcullis open. Just replace the last paragraph of my previous post with this:))

Soon enough they were stepping through the portcullis and onto a cobblestone path through a courtyard. Urungor turned to look sternly at Emkai.

"Now you'd best remember to behave yourself. If they end up not wanting you, and it's your fault, well, things won't be very nice for you at camp. Do you understand?"

Emkai's hood stayed facing Urungor as though he were trying to stare the man down. As it was Urungor couldn't see his face; there was a flap of fabric that hung down in the front of his hood. "Yes, I understand," he said in his curt manner.

"Good." Urungor pulled his stag up short and dismounted, leaving Seta on its back. He looked around for an attendant.

Seta peered curiously at a person standing nearby as she waited. And what an odd person it was too. Short as Seta was, this girl was at least two feet shorter. Her eyes were black, and... did she only have four fingers?

"Emkai," she whispered (not without a furtive glance to Urungor), "I don't think you're the only non-human here."

Araya was tired of running, true the Elven could run at incredible speeds for an incredible amount of time, but she was tired of it. Her guards were ahead of her and behind her, so she couldn't slow down. It would put the line up in a state of confusion. Not that that really mattered they were almost to the Boy King's palace she could see it up ahead of them. Three days and nights of running and only stopping for five hours a night for a war meeting. Oh, it better not be something stupid that the Boy King wanted to go to war over. If he said he was angry at a group of barbarians for stealing some crops, gods help her she would run him through with her sword.

"My lady," one of the guards up ahead called out to her, "if you would like I and another one of your loyal guards would like to go ahead and anounce your arrival to the Boy King's palace."

"I and the rest of the guards shall stay here." Araya nodded slowing down. The guard that had spoken to her went with another, this one a woman, to forge ahead and anounce the Elven princess. She stayed where she was not sitting as she watched the two guards run as fast as they could. Soon they were out of sight so she sat down on a large rock as the female guard that was left started a fire, using magic, and heated up some of the vegtable stew that they had been eating for the past few days. She was tired of the food, but it was what you got for being an Elf and following sacred laws of not eating animals as to keep the body pure.

((The royal court is made up of local nobles, as well as officals. The nobles live in their own homes, I would assume, and travel to the castle.))

Malachi glanced at Rune and seemed to relax once he realized that he hadn't completely been abandoned by the people he was paying to keep around. He wet his lips and held himself a little taller, pushing back his narrow shoulders and straightening his spine.

"Ah, Rune," he said, and shoved at his hair with a grimace of distaste, "I have an errand for you. I need you to find my aunt and give her a message, can you do that?"

-

There was a weathered-looking little person in silk wandering through the courtyard, Freya noticed. She raised her eyebrows slightly and chewed her lip. A guest of the king's, of course, but which?

She glanced at her lady as they strolled arm and arm through the damp summer air. Astrid liked to take walks in the garden -- she said the air was better there, fresher -- and she loved to sit and listen to Freya as she trained, pushing her body to its limits under the heavy mail.

"What is it, Fray?" the princess asked, her sightless eyes turned to her companion. Freya bowed hre head and looked back to the goblin.

"A guest, my lady," she replied.

"Well, come along then. Mal's favored few aren't going to find their own way in." The heavy wooden staff tapped at the flagstones, and Freya led her princess to the approaching goblin.

"Excuse us," she said. "May we be of assistance?" she asked. Her chain-mail dress glinted in the sun, the axe on her back and sword at her hip heavy, familiar burdens. Sweat cooled on her skin and she knew she was not in any state to recieve visitors in her lord's stead, but it would ahve to do.

Rory made his way through Dragon Country, and through a small elvin wood by the time the day ended. He pitched camp a little ways inland from the small forest. He knew that the creatures who lurked nearby hated fire, but he needed a camp fire radiating nearby so he could live through the cold night. In the mean time, he walked around with his bow with one thing on his mind- Meat, fresh, raw. He felt saliva building and moistening his lips and sharp teeth at the thought.

After a few attempts, he managed to bag a couple rabbits and a squirrel for his measly dinner. This wasn't nearly enough to satisfy his large appitite, but it kept him from writhing in hunger pains. He managed to skin the rabbit and almost ate it whole, to tied himself over, and left the others to be cooked. Now he wouls begin to make a fire...

Rory hesitated, staring at the dry branches he had gathered for wood. He concentrated, letting the familiar eruption of heat in his chest and belly take over. He opened his eyes, that were now dialated like a cat's and bright, bright yellow, and blew slowly, then quickly on the fire, small flames were tickling the corners of his mouth and refusing to cling to the wood.

Rune tried to keep a scowl off of his face. "Your aunt gave me strict orders to never leave your side" he muttered. "So I must ask you to revise your order." I'm not your servant, Mal... why won't you respect that?

~~~~~
Before heading to the castle, Thoth knew that he had an errand to run. He needed to find the woman he had hired as his spy before going to the castle.

Malachi's eyes narrowed slightly, and his nostrils flared before he could completely wipe any reaction from his face. "You will find that my word outranks hers," he said curtly. "And as we seem to be the only two people in this room at the moment, I think that you are needed elsewhere. Temporarily."

He offered a sharp smile, "Besides, the sooner you follow through with it, the sooner you can go back to fufilling my aunt's wishes and lurking in my shadow."

-

Freya stiffened slightly at the appearence of three more persons, one an elders while one appeared to he covered head to foot. She wondered if he was ill, breifly, before she held up a small hand to flag them down.

"Does the King expect you?" she asked

The guards slowed as they approached the castle. They quickly took it all in and went inside the gates to find a person that could show tham as to where their princess would be staying. Neither of them unstrung their bows or put their long hunting knives, which mind you they did not use to caoture innocent animals, down. They were not stupid and they knew that every little thing could be a threat whether it was the goblin standing in the middle of the courtyard or the girls going over to talk to it.

Rune nodded, looking down at his feet. "My apologies, your majesty" he mumbled softly. "Give me the message and I shall return shortly."

((Sorry for the short post.... gotta go, be back at 6:30 EST. Oh. And don't explode the page. please.))

Urungor beamed at Freya and nodded, though he noted how she'd stiffened when she'd seen them. There was a girl who wasn't to be underestimated, he thought.

"We did send word ahead, yes. I am a representative of the Rusgar. Urungor to be more exact. I bring a gift for the Boy-King Malachi."

Emkai shifted his weight, but Urungor didn't respond. "Could you show me to a place where I can put Narvoth? He's touchy, y'see, and I wouldn't like to see any stablehands killed trying to put him away." As though to underline his words, the stag snorted and lowered its great antlered head. Its almost black hair made it look like something plucked from a nightmare and casually tossed into the little courtyard.

Seta's attention had shifted from the little goblin to the princess. Blind, she noted, looking at the staff.

Yalaedra observed the small, heavily armed human woman. "Yes, might you inform his Majesty King Malachi of my presence? Tell him that Yalaedra Feraeri, ambassador of the dragons, has arrived." The woman raised an eyebrow. "Forgive my current form," Yaladra sighed. "I am indeed who I say I am. Your portcullis was not built to accommodate the bulk of a dragon, so I changed."

Freya nodded slightly and turned to Astrid, "Usually I ouldn't ask, my lady, but could you--"

"Of course," the blind woman's voice was loud -- loud and amused. "Go on then. Take them to the Boy King and I'll deal with the...what is that?" She inclined her head towards Emkai and the snorting sound, the hoofbeats were off, "It doesn't sound like a horse..."

"Thank you," Freya murmured. She nodded again, "I thank you for your patience. The King expects you, please follow me."

Freya nodded to the dragon-ambassador and opened her mouth to reply more personally-- only for her expression to cloud with anger as she spotted the two elfish gaurd with their weapons drawn, strolling through the gates like they had any right to. Her lips curled back into a snarl and her voice seemed far too big for her tiny body, "Strangers! You will drop your weapons or you will be removed from the castle grounds! How dare you show such disrepect on the King's land!"

-

Malachi nodded and his hackles sunk as he relaxed slightly.

:"Thank you," he said. He cleared his throat, "Simply put: tell my aunt that for the moment I am detained, and that she is too greet the guests should I not be back in time for their arrival. I have just remembered a bit of business I need to attend to, though it should not take me long."

He hurried towards the door, only to pause and glance over his shoulder, "Should you relay that message and finish before I do, you will find me in my chambers."

The two guards put their weapons in the holders. "That one," the female guard whispered to her companion, "is not to be messed with."

"Aye." the male guard whispered back then he called out louder, "We are here on friendly terms. We will not harm you or the Boy King or any of his subjects. We are simply here to anounce that our Princess will be here tonight and we must know where she will be staying so we can set up a guard post around her."

"I understand that you may not trust us and we do not yet fully trust you." the female called out, "You obviously ave a duty to your lady as we have to ours so we each must mutually respect eachother. But let me make this clear, I will not put my weapons down until I am dead." the last part had come out slightly cold , but it was intended to be that way.

Freya's eyes narrowed and she was all but white with rage. Astrid curled an arm around her narrow shoulders, careful of the double-bladed axe.

"You will not raise your weapons on this land," she told them flatly, "Any attempt to do so will be considered a threat to the lives of these people and their king. And if you continue to keep a death grip on your weapons, you won't have to wait long to die," she observed, decidedly chilly. Because really, you walk into the courtyard of a castle, your weapons drawn. Logical conclusion: you are a thread that needs to be taken out, regardless of your intentions.

"As it is, you will wait. As you can see, you are not the only ones requesting a room, or attention, and you will wait your turn to get the information you seek."

Urungor hadn't turned to look at the elvish guards, but he chuckled slightly at the declaration that they wouldn't put their weapons down until dead. Famous last words.

He smiled at Astrid, though of course she couldn't see it. "He's a stag, ma'am, one of the big ones from the north. You don't get beasts like this in your fields. I only need an isolated area where he won't be able to hurt anyone, and I'll be able to keep him calm. As for my two... guests," he eyed the shackles on Emkai's wrists and the nervous expression on Seta's face, "they'll need to stay with me, if that's possible. A nice big room should work. If it's only got one bed, that's fine. I can sleep on the floor."