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| Cetatsenia-Demoness Meeting | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Nov 18 2013, 07:41 PM (8,327 Views) | |
| Cetatsenia | Nov 18 2013, 07:41 PM Post #1 |
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If one was to take a place from the nation of Demoness to Cetatsenia, one would most likely see the dichotomy that the nation was rather known for. In the southern parts of the nation one would notice the highlands, heavily forested and almost untouched by man aside from the winding roads and the occasional town. But further north, the terrain would give away to the lowlands of the Centric Basin. This land was flat, and lacked the expansive forests, though there were smaller isolated forests. But the main difference one would notice would be the level of development, it was dominated by a large amount of farmland as the lowland soil was incredibly fertile, but there was also the occasional city, bustling with people. Albraustana-zid was one such city, and it was the primate city of Cetatsenia, the richest and most populous and most important of them all. It was built along both sides of the great Albastru River that ran through much of Cetatsenia, though most of it was on the southern bank of the river. This was because of the simple fact that Albraustana-zid had begun life as three separate forts and settlements built along the river. Albrau and Stana had been built on the Southern bank, and over time had grown together until they were finally united into Albraustana. And while Zid would eventually become part of the greater whole, for a long time it was simply considered a city separated from the capital only by the river. Since it had grown organically over the numerous years, and had once been three separate cities, the streets and roads had a habit of being winding and could be complicated to navigate for those unfamiliar with them who had no map. Though the roads had over time been widened and revamped in order to accommodate cars, and the newest sections of the city on the outskirts actually had a gridded street plan. As it was the middle of the day, the streets were currently filled with cars and buses, and the sidewalks filled with pedestrians, while the newest addition to the city's transportation network, the subway system, ran below the streets. While there was a number of attractions in the city, such as the museums and baths, one of the most prominent is the Palatul Regal, the Royal Palace. The site of the original settlement of Albrau and lying atop a hill, it has been torn down or otherwise destroyed and then subsequently rebuilt several times throughout history. The most recent being the ascension of Ioan I to the throne of Cetatsenia, though it has been renovated and updated since then. The Palace itself is surrounded by a wall that rings the entirety of the hill, with only a single gate leading up to it. The wall is patrolled by a special corps of Cetatsenian soldiers, easily identified by their bright blue ceremonial uniforms and ornate, pointed helmets. After that, a road lead up to the palace proper, an expansive building with a stone exterior that shared more in common with a medieval castle than what one thinks of when they hear the word 'palace'. It was home to a fair number of servants, as well as the guardsmen, and a small number of government officials. Most of those lived out in the city, and worked in their own buildings. It was absolutely huge, and in front of it was an expansive pool of water. Overall, it was an impressive sight that could be seen from a good portion of the city. At the moment, however, Voivode Gavril IV Suveraneshti was not at his home in the palace. Rather he was at the airport, which had been cleared of any citizens besides him, the guards arrayed with him, and those who worked there; all flights to this airport had either been delayed or rerouted to other nearby airports. Today was an important day, as this was the decided upon day of Jia Li's visit to Cetatsenia. As two nations whose relationship could be accurately described as "mutually neutral", this was a rather important meeting, and Gavril did not want to mess anything up. So he stood alongside his older sister Andreea, the Steward of Cetatsenia, in the airport, ready to head out onto the tarmac to greet the Empress as soon as her plane set down. Edited by Cetatsenia, Apr 22 2014, 09:58 PM.
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| Cetatsenia | Dec 3 2013, 11:10 PM Post #91 |
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Gavril smiled, "I appreciate ze gesture, and I zank you for it. But we are doing fine, at least for ze moment." And now Gavril wasn't entirely sure where the conversation should go. He didn't have any questions, and Jia Li had already said she was finished with questions, at least for the moment. Thankfully, Gavrila came to the rescue, noticing the silence that had descended upon the group. "You guys probably came right here, right?" Gavrila said to the Demonessians, "How about a tour around ze palace?" At this Gavril perked up, "Ah, zat sounds like a wonderful idea. So, Empress, would you like to see some of ze rest of ze palace? Perhaps get a better look at ze Great Hall? We did sort of rush zrough it." Edited by Cetatsenia, Dec 3 2013, 11:51 PM.
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| Demoness | Dec 4 2013, 09:13 PM Post #92 |
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"Yes, that would be lovely," Jia Li replied. "I noticed many portraits. Perhaps you could tell me more about those rulers." She was incredibly curious about the burnt portrait, but she was prevented from asking by her culture. |
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| Cetatsenia | Dec 4 2013, 09:28 PM Post #93 |
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Before Gavril got a chance to respond, Gavrila leapt up from her seat on the arm of Gavril's chair, "So zen it is settled. Let us go!" With that she took a drink from the bottle of vodka that she still had in her hands, and made her way to the doorway, Aurel immediately taking up position behind her as she waited for the rest of the group. Gavril chuckled at his cousin while Andreea merely rolled her eyes. "I would be happy to tell you more of Cetatsenia's past rulers," he said, "Some of zem were some razer interesting people." Then he stood up from his seat, and motioned to the doorway, "After you." |
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| Demoness | Dec 4 2013, 09:55 PM Post #94 |
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"Thank you," Jia Li said with a smile. As she stood, she took her husband's hand, interlacing her fingers with his. Though they had been in close proximity the entire visit, they had not held hands while walking; it was possible this display was for Gavrila's benefit, to put her mind at ease about their relationship, or because Jia Li was comfortable with them. Xel's brief expression of surprise - followed by a small smile shared between the two of them - indicated it was probably the former. Makoto fell in behind them, quiet as a shadow and always keeping within two paces of her; at least his black uniform suited his role and it was easy to forget about him - a stark contrast to his personality when they were all in private. Ariana was also silent, picking up her skirt and curtsying slightly as she followed the whole group - including Gavril. "I'm sure you noticed the wall of portraits in our main hallway - it's a bit hard to miss them," Jia Li said. "They're supposedly all the empresses from the beginning to now. Is it the same way with your portraits or is it only those who made a significant contribution to Cetatsenia's history?" |
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| Cetatsenia | Dec 4 2013, 10:20 PM Post #95 |
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"Ze portraits in ze main hall are all of ze Voivodes in Cetatsenia's history," Gavril said, "Starting wiz Ioan I, as he was ze first actual Voivode to exist. Ze region had been ruled by a singular person before, but zat was before ze people here were known as Cetatsens." "How big is zis hallway of yours?" Gavrila asked, raising one of her eyebrows, "Demoness is really fucking old, isn't it? How many Empresses have you had?" "Gavrila!" Andreea said as soon as her cousin had stopped talking. It was obvious she disapproved of her cousin's foul language, not that Gavrila cared in the slightest. "Gavrila, at least have ze courtesy to use Cetatsen if you are going to curse," Gavril said. He was obviously irritated at her, but he also knew she was going to curse no matter what he said and he'd rather the Demonessians in the room not realize it when she did. Gavrila rolled her eyes, but gave her cousin a look of silent agreement. Then she turned back to Jia Li, "Anyway. So, how big is ze hallway?" |
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| Demoness | Dec 4 2013, 10:43 PM Post #96 |
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Jia Li frowned; she was not good at estimating spaces. "I'd say at least two, ano, 'football fields'," she replied, clearly not certain about the length of a "football field" since she had never been to one. "The nation is over five and a half thousand years old," she continued. She informed her of how many empresses there had been, certain to exclude Daemonesu-kae, Daemonesu-sumae, and herself. "Of course, there were technically more than that, but we don't count heirs who died before taking the throne since their reincarnations ascend the throne and their portraits are not hung in the hallway." She paused. "Save for one: The Lady of the Willow, as she's called. It's tradition that an heir is only called 'Daemonesu' until she comes of age and she will choose a reign name then. "In any case, the Lady of the Willow was quite young and unfortunately sacrificed when the Ruadhans captured Sacred Rock in order to create the, ano, 'seal' that remains today." She turned back to Gavril. "She is that tree you saw when you flew into our city," she said, referring to the weeping willow that took up a whole city block. |
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| Cetatsenia | Dec 4 2013, 10:53 PM Post #97 |
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Gavril and Gavrila simply stared at Jia Li for a moment; she did just tell them that a woman was sacrificed and turned into a giant tree. Andreea was surprised and confused as well, but she did her best not to show it. And for once Gavrila was at a loss for words, because of both the tree and the hallway. She opened her mouth, and then shut it again, uncertain of what exactly to say. Then she decided on a simple, "Zat is a lot more zan just a hallway." Gavril just nodded his head in agreement at Gavrila's comment, both happy and surprised that she hadn't cursed again. Then he decided to ask the question that was on all of the Cetatsen's minds, "Um, what exactly do you mean when you say that 'she is ze tree'"? |
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| Demoness | Dec 4 2013, 11:23 PM Post #98 |
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Jia Li shifted, not quite comfortable with the question. She had been an agnostic most of her life and after she came to an understanding with her heritage, she'd had a lot to catch up on. Even so, there were quite a few things that she couldn't quite reconcile with what she saw as "reality"; many of these things would be considered mythology if her religion wasn't still practiced and some of these mythologies she had come to believe. This one, however, was both tragic and confusing. "Ano... I never quite understood it myself since all empresses are supposed to go to the Palace of the Dead when they die, and so did she, but she also exists within the tree..." Thankfully, Xel took pity on her and began to explain. "Across the nation, there are several 'seals' which are meant to prevent Daemonesu-kae from awakening and absorbing us back into her consciousness," he said clinically. Despite being the High Priest, he was still an atheist, which made for interesting conversation when he sat on the Council of Twelve. "The Ruadhan Shrine is the primary of these 'seals'. Each of the seals required a blood sacrifice. In most cases, it was a chitael or another animal, but because this one was important it was the daughter of Empress-who-was Shiradhdu, who left her behind in Sacred Rock during a war. The city was capture and the empress-to-be with it. For whatever reason, they decided to use her and planted a seed in her blood. As the sapling grew, it grew into the form of a child and when Empress Shiradhdu returned to Sacred Rock and saw the blasphemy, she tried to cut the tree down. Legend has it that the tree screamed like her child and bled, so the tree was instead preserved and tended. The child was reincarnated as Amonshuufu so she could become empress, but the tree continued to grow and to this day there is a face in its trunk that resembles that of a woman-" He nodded and internally rolled his eyes before continuing; he did not see the resemblance. "-and Empress-who-was Amonshuufu. "So the child 'became' the tree and is still considered the tree as well as Empress Amonshuufu. Scholars have reconciled this as the Lady of the Willow, as she is called, being a copy of the empress-to-be's soul." Jia Li smiled gratefully. "Something like that. It was not condoned by anyone in power, of course." |
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| Cetatsenia | Dec 4 2013, 11:44 PM Post #99 |
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At the explanation Gavrila burst out laughing, and both Gavril and Andreea looked at her in abject horror. Sure, they found it to be rather strange, and put no more stock in it than the myths of their pagan ancestors. But they realized that there were in fact people that believed this, and out of all the things that Gavrila could do, this was probably the absolute worst. "Gavrila," Gavril hissed, anger creeping into his voice for the first time, "What is wrong with you?" Then she stopped laughing and looked at her cousin, confusion plain on her face. "Ce? Oh. Oh, rahat! Rahat, rahat, rahat," her eyes going wide as she realized what everyone else was thinking, she quickly turned to the Demonessians, "Nu, nu, nu, nu, nu; I wasn't laughing at your religion, I swear to Judecătorul. I just zought of how my cousin Octavian would react to zat story; has Gavril mentioned him? He's a priest." At her explanation, Gavril let out a sigh of relief; though Andreea was still glaring at her cousin. "Gavrila, please do not do somezing like zat again," Gavril said, rubbing his temple. Though he had to admit, his brother's reaction most likely would be rather funny, since it'd probably be a slack-jawed stare of just utter confusion and disbelief "I am really sorry," Gavrila said once again to all the Demonessians, "I really didn't mean to laugh like zat. Well, I mean I did, but I didn't mean for you to zink I was laughing at you." Both Gavril and Andreea were certain that Gavrila was telling the truth, after all she was nothing if not honest. And if she wasn't sorry, she wouldn't be apologizing. |
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| Demoness | Dec 5 2013, 12:02 AM Post #100 |
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Jia Li immediately flushed as soon as Gavrila began to laugh and Xel, too, turned red, but this was in anger. While he didn't care for Morante, he cared about it; after all, it secured his wife's right to the throne and was an extension of her, however ludicrous, and he would not abide insults to her. Thankfully, she held fast to his hand and caressed his arm in a calming manner as she drew him closer to her. He looked at her, eyes bright with fury, and though he did not approve, he submitted to her will. Her embarrassment did not pass, even after the explanation; she had taken a long time to accept Morante's beliefs as true and while she had been exposed to ridicule over the religion, it had only been over the internet and never in person. This was a new experience. "It's alright. Misunderstandings happen," she replied reassuring, accompanying the comment with a weak smile. "Tell me more about your brother. Maybe I can understand." |
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