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Cetatsenia-Demoness Meeting
Topic Started: Nov 18 2013, 07:41 PM (8,333 Views)
Cetatsenia
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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
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Gavril noticed the look on Jia Li's face and looked breifly downcast as well; he'd heard about her sister, and he knew at least a little bit of the situation. He hoped that he hadn't dragged up any painful memories; perhaps he should have thought more carefully about what he'd said. But it didn't matter now, what had been said had been said. But it was still better to apologize.

"I apologize if I brought up any bad memories," he said, "And I have a relationship like that with one of my cousins as well, she was often around while we were growing up. But we saw less of her once we got older, and even less when she unexpectedly inherited the title of Knezate of Sudest. She is like a sister to me as well."

At this Andreea gave Gavril a sideways glance, raising one of her eyebrows. While she and her brothers did think of Gavrila like a sister to them, Gavril had a tendency to not bring her up with foreign dignitaries, let alone rulers. Ever. She supposed he felt bad, as he liked Jia Li and Andreea had noticed the saddened expression on her face before she forced a smile; perhaps it was a way of making up for it, even if nobody but the two siblings would realize it.
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Demoness
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"I..." The expected response was to deny any wrongdoing or that anything was even amiss, but it was not within her character to conceal her emotions. "My sister does bring up painful memories, but it is nothing you have to apologize for. Her unfortunate decisions were her own," she replied and hoped that it was all she would have to say on the matter. Even if she did like Gavril, she could not discuss her complex feelings about her sister with him and maintain any sort of dignity; that was reserved solely for Xel, her "mother" Ariana, and her "brother" Ned.

Then she smiled again, a little less forcefully. "I think you may have mentioned her once at the party," she said. "What was her name?"
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Cetatsenia
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Gavril nodded in understanding, he may like the Empress but they had only recently met and there was the fact that her people saw her as divine. He didn't truly expect her to go any further into the subject. And then the Empress asked about his cousin.

He sat there for a few seconds smiling and staring before Andreea cleared her throat to remind him that the Empress had in fact just asked a question. He supposed it would only make sense for the Empress to ask more about her, he'd brought her up after all.

"Her name is Gavrila de Sud," he said, "She is ze Knezinja of Sudest in ze souzeast of Cetatsenia."
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Demoness
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"You smiled quite brightly," Jia Li commented. "Why?"
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Cetatsenia
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Gavril's eyes widened in surprise, the smile was more to look polite and so that it wasn't obvious that he didn't really wish to continue the conversation. Perhaps he'd overdone it though. "No specific reason really," he said. While he didn't want to continue the conversation, he didn't want to let Jia Li know that he didn't want to continue the conversation. After all, she might get the wrong kind of idea; Gavrila wasn't a bad person, she was just the kind of person one does not wish to have interacting with important people.

Thankfully, Andreea came to the rescue as she pointed to a rather large, and quite obviously old building. "Empress, if you do not mind me interjecting, over zere is ze Aurora Bath House. Bathing is a razer important part of Cetatsen culture, and I find it to be quite soozing and relaxing." she said, " I zink at some point during your stay here you should try it; of course we would bar it from ze public if you wantd to use one of ze public baz houses."

Gavril sighed imperceptibly at his sister's rescue, she'd have to thank her for it later. Though he didn have something to add. "And I am not certain how Demonessians view nudity, so you would be able to baz alone of wiz your husband, if you so desire," he said; he was aware that not all cultures shared the Cetatsens' ideas about nudity.
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Demoness
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"Well, it is a bathhouse," Jia Li replied. There were of course nudity laws aimed against promiscuity, but communal bathing was part of their culture and "dangerous" nudity had to be viewed within certain contexts. It seemed that Cetatsenia may view bathing in a similar vein to Demoness, though in her country one cleaned oneself before actually entering the bath, which was solely to soak, and she wasn't certain if Cetatsen baths were segregated by sex like hers were. "But I have a feeling that security would be a concern. Ano, no offense intended to you, but-"

"The Imperial Family tends not to use public facilities," Xel interjected. "Partially for security reasons, but also because of her unique status," he said, alluding to her divinity; maintaining a sense of apartness was important to maintaining this illusion. "I'm afraid that this is something that may not be compromised." A bit curt, perhaps, but it was his past as a guard speaking rather than his diplomacy.
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Cetatsenia
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Gavril nodded, "I understand completely, zough ze Palatul Regal has its own private bathes; zere would be no issue in using zat, would zere? Provided you actually wish to do so, I understand if you do not."

Cetatsenia's views on bathing were rather similar to those of Demoness. It was seen as predominantly a social activity, and Cetatsens did in fact clean themselves off before entering the bath. They were not, however, segregated by gender, since Cetatsens didn't view nudity as being inherently sexual.

"Zough I am curious what it is like to be considered divinity," Gavril said, deciding to voice some of his thoughts out loud for the sake of conversation, "Cetatsenian monarchs never even claimed any form of Divine Right to Rule; ze House Suveraneshti derived its right to rule by descent of Ioan I, and ze ozer Noble Houses derived their right to rule via zeir descent from ze Knez who supported Ioan I."
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Demoness
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Jia Li shook her head when Gavril asked about the bath, but her inner light seemed to fade a little bit at his second question. "I cannot speak for the rest of my line, but I have found it rather difficult," she replied. Indeed, it was rather contradictory: whereas her milk mother and servants treated her with kid gloves, her father never missed an opportunity to remind her that she, too, would die. They had been separated for most of her childhood and though they reconciled when she was a teenager, the scars were slow to heal.

To conceal her inner sadness, she revealed her right palm, which was lined with scars and a still-healing shallow cut. "It is a trade-off," she continued. "I am kept separate from the population, but I also must sacrifice for them, as you saw at the equinox." She laughed softly. "I sometimes even have existential crises when I think about my divinity."
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Cetatsenia
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Gavril nodded solemnly at the Empress's explanation, "I know very well ze difficulties of being a ruler, but I cannot imagine ze burden of being separate from my people. I love my people dearly, and to have to be separated from zem by a gulf as wide as that between ze mortal and divine would be unbearable."

The Voivode was quiet for a moment, thinking about Jia Li's comment about existential crises. Then he spoke, "I will admit zat zere were times in ze past in which I wondered whezer zere was any meaning or purpose to life. But I have come to believe zat my purpose is to guide and rule my people and nation, and to do zat which is best for zem and not for myself. I believe zat such is true of every ruler, whezer zey be mortal or divine is not important."
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Demoness
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She nodded; while the gulf between her and the people was strange, the "gulf" between her and her sister, who had been born less than a minute later, had been unbearable. It was queer to consider one child divine and the other mortal when they had shared the womb, but it would also be the same with her daughter and son despite the care she had taken to spare them from the pain.

"That is true of every good ruler," she agreed. "Those who tend to lose sight of that cause war and pain." It could be argued that she had been selfish when she fled to Fenwick, despite some of the reforms she wished to make, because she had caused the Civil War; it continued to distress her to this day.
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