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| Cetatsenia-Demoness Meeting | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Nov 18 2013, 07:41 PM (8,332 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 | Nov 24 2013, 07:16 PM Post #41 |
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Gavril was about to agree with Jia Li's statement, and perhaps mention some of the examples of Voivodes whom had caused war and pain for the nation when Andreea nudged him, and motioned out the window. It seems they had arrived at the gates to the Palatul Regal. The lines of cars stopped at the old and massive stone walls for a moment as the Guardsmen made sure everything was in order. Then they continued on up the hill towards the palace itself. However, the Demonessians would undoubtedly notice the Garzile de le Palat, the Palace Guards. After all, they all wore an ornate blue inform with a yellow and white sash across their chests, nearly turning them into a walking Cetatsenian flag. In addition they wore an old-style military helmet with a short spike at the top. They had a rather distinct look to them, to say the least. The trip up the hill didn't take very long, and before long the cars were pulling up to the palace. It looked even more massive up close than it did from far away, and one could see more of than they could from afar. The road turned into a circle near the palace, and in the middle of said circle was a large fountain, beautiful despite its simplicity and lack of ornamentation. And then there were also the statues of Ioan I and Vlad II on either side of the short stairs leading up to the large double doors set into the imposing wall of stone. The image of Ioan was that of a warrior, the statue depicting him clad in full plate armour with his sword raised to the sky, with long and wild hair and a great beard that reached down to his chest. The statue of Vlad on the other hand was dressed in a cloak and long, flowing robe; and in his hands was not a sword but a scroll, and his long hair was carved in a well-groomed manner with him only sporting a goatee upon his face. The cars stopped one by one in front of the Palatul Regal, and eventually the driver of Gavril and Jia Li's car came around to the side and opened the door. Gavril and his sister exited the car, and Gavril waited for the Demonessians to exit the car before he looked over at Jia Li and asked, "So? What do you zink?" ------ "Are you absolutely certain that you haven't seen them?" said a woman, "Because we've been waiting here for a while, Aurel." "Be patient doamna," responded an elderly man, "It was you that wished to leave so early." Gavrila just sighed and laid down in the backseat of her car, she was starting to get impatient. She'd decided to come and visit her cousin when he heard that the Empress of Demoness was visiting as she thought it'd be interesting to meet her. She hadn't actually informed Gavril about it though; he'd probably have told her not to, and she didn't want that. And she figured it best to arrive after them, since if she got there before everyone else, Gavril could just meet with her in private and tell her to leave without ever having meeting the Empress. So she'd had her driver, who was currently reading a book, park somewhere close to the probable route they'd take to the palace. But perhaps she'd been a bit anxious, since they'd all been waiting there for a fair amount of time. Gavrila was obviously bored and antsy but the elderly gentleman in the front seat, her personal servant Aurel, seemed perfectly content. He was, after all, quite used to waiting. "Hmmm, I think I see them," Aurel said, and Gavrila shot up like a bullet. "Really?" she looked around, and sure enough there was a line of black cars that could only be the party. hen the Knezinja grinned, "Alright! Let's get going then!" She thumped on the back of her drivers seat and he looked up from his book, startled. "My apologizes, doamna." Then he started up the car, and they made their way to the palace, they weren't exactly tailing Gavril's group, but they weren't far behind either. And Gavrila sat there grinning the entire time; she knew she wouldn't have any issue with the Guardsmen at the gate, she was a Knezinja and a relative of the Voivode after all, and she was looking forward not only to meeting the Empress, but to seeing her cousin again. |
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| Demoness | Nov 24 2013, 08:52 PM Post #42 |
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Jia Li peered out the window as they approached the Palatul Regal. She knew from experience that not all palaces were as fortified as hers was and she often wondered why there was a difference; the capital had rarely been under siege, yet it was afforded more protection than sites she knew had exchanged hands. She found the statues interesting, particularly that of Vlad II since it seemed to imply a man of words and ideas; it was a nice contrast to the warrior beside him. Xel, on the other hand, always looked at security. He found it strange that the guards wore bright blue, but he supposed calling attention to their presence was all that was needed. Much of Palace Security was trained to disappear into the background to conceal the whole of the force that protected the empress. He also wondered at the feasibility of the uniforms - they seemed constricting - but if they were only ceremonial, there must be actual trained guards elsewhere. Protection by misdirection. "I like the statue on the left," she replied, indicating Vlad II. "It strikes a balance between strength and intelligence." |
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| Cetatsenia | Nov 24 2013, 09:32 PM Post #43 |
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Gavril smiled at Jia Li's words. "Yes, Vlad II was a man zat zought before he acted, and zought long-term as well. But he was not ze type to get bogged down in zought and never act. So I'd say ze statue is a fairly accurate representation of him in zat regard." Then he clasped his hands together and began to speak, "Now, let us head insi-" However, he was interrupted by a servant slipping out of the door and hurrying his way over to the Voivode. He made a short bow to Gavril because saying in a quiet voice, "Domnul, there is a bit of an issue." Gavril simply stared at the man for a moment, a look of absolute horror on his face. An issue was not good, an issue could be disastrous, and his thoughts raced as numerous things that could have possibly happened went through his head. The he turned to Jia Li. "Please, excuse me for a moment," he said, and then took the servant a little ways off so that thy could talk in peace. "What is it? Please tell me it can be fixed easily," he said, his face completely serious. "Well," the servant began, unsure how to continue. "Yes?" Gavril said, beginning to get impatient. Then the servant simply gestured to the gate at the bottom of the hill which was just visible. And there seemed to be a car there. Which confused the Voivode as all the cars he'd sent had already arrived, and none had fallen behind. And he watched still confused as the car was let through the gate and began its ascent up the hill. "Knezinja Gavrila has decided to visit," he said. Gavril stood there, dumbstruck for a moment as the information began to soak in. He directed the servant back inside and to attend to their duties, but it was merely an automated motion. Then he made his way back over to the Demonessians, still feeling numb, and despite trying his best to hide it, there was still a look of shock and near-dread on his face. "Well, it seems zat my esteemed cousin Knezinja Gavrila I de Sud of Sudest has decided to pay me a visit today," he said, trying his best to at least sound neutral about the turn of events, "So it seems you shall get a chance to meet her as well." All Andreea could muster was a rather quiet, "Oh dear." ------ "See? I told you that I'd be able to get through," Gavrila said, grinning at Aurel. "I didn't doubt it for a minute," he responded, "I just thought that perhaps this wasn't the wisest course of action." "I know, I know," Gavrila said, "And Aurel, you know I value your opinions. But there was never anything you could say to dissuade me from doing this." Aurel nodded his head slowly, "I understand doamna. But you can't blame me for trying." Gavrila just smiled and shook her head, "Nope!" And she continued to grin even as the car made its way up to hill towards the Palatul Regal. |
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| Demoness | Nov 24 2013, 10:19 PM Post #44 |
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When Gavril moved off to speak with his servant, Xel took the opportunity to steal a private moment with his wife and led her toward the large fountain. His arm slid around her waist and she leaned her head against his shoulder. Words did not need to be exchanged as he caressed the fingers of her free hand and listened to the trickling of water. They lost track of time, absorbed in one another as they infrequently could be found, and Ariana helpfully cleared her throat when Gavril approached them again, allowing them to part politely. Jia Li hesitated before responding, having noticed the look of dread on his face, but she ignored his distress since he was trying so hard to conceal it, and smiled instead. "Well, her ears must have been burning," she joked. "Is that her at the gate?" he asked. |
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| Cetatsenia | Nov 24 2013, 10:57 PM Post #45 |
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Gavril blinked in confusion for a moment at the Empress's joke, before turning his attention to her question. "Yes, zat is her car coming up now." Andreea came over and stood next to and slightly behind her brother in order for them to both greet their cousin. While she didn't have quite the same expression on her face that Gavril did, she wasn't looking forward to this either. It had the potential to end badly; she probably wasn't as worried as her brother because if Gavrila screwed this meeting up, it would effect him as Voivode more than her as Steward. Eventually the car arrived at the top of the hill, and Aurel opened the passenger side door and stepped out. He was an elderly man in his early 90s, and his short beard and long, wavy hair were both pure white. He was dressed in a simple black suit, with a vest in place of a jacket, with a plain black tie; he also wore a pair of round glasses on his face. He then proceeded to open the back door, and out stepped Gavrila. There were two things that one might notice about Gavrila at first glance. The first was the fact that despite being a woman she wore a regular black suit and tie. There was no real significance to this, she just preferred the way that it looked over the dresses that most Cetatsen women wore for formal occasions. And the second was that unlike almost every single other Cetatsen that Jia Li and her entourage would have seen, her black hair was cut short, not even reaching to her jawline. She came bounded over to Gavril and Andreea, with Aurel following not far behind despite a fairly obvious limp. "Salut veri! Cum ați fost?" she said to them both, the grin having not slipped from her face since she'd stepped out of the car. "We are doing fine, dear cousin," Gavril said, purposefully answering her question in English rather than Cetatsenia's native tongue, "May I ask what it is zat brought you here today?" "Ce? I need a reason to come and visit my family now?" she asked, "I'm hurt that you don't want to see me." "Gavrila, as you can see, we are a bit busy," Andreea said, "We're meeting wiz Empress Jia Li from Demoness today. Could you perhaps hold off on your visit until a later date?" "Asta a fost ziua de azi?" Gavrila replied, "Cred că am uitat." Gavril gave her a look that showed Gavrila that he didn't believe a word she'd just said; she claimed to have forgotten that the Empress was visiting today. "Well, if zat is the case, zen it wouldn't be much of an issue for you to come back at a later date, would it?" Gavrila looked at him for a moment, and then just shook her head, "Nu, I zink I'll visit anyway. And it would be good for ze Empress to meet some of ze Cetatsen nobility too, corect?" Both Gavril and Andreea gave the Knezinja a look that said "No." They said nothing however, and Gavrila just hugged them both, "I'll take zat as a 'yes'." Then she turned to the Empress for the first time, tilting her head and staring at her for a moment before walking up to her, moving before Gavril had a chance to stop her. "Alo, you must be ze Empress Jia Li. It's a pleasure to meet you, I am Knezinja Gavrila I de Sud of Sudest." She didn't bow or extend her hand to shake, instead Gavrila just stood there smiling. However, her cousins walked over to her, at which point Gavril looked at his cousin and said "Apleca." She turned to him, confusion on her face, "Ce vrei să spui apleca?" "Demonessiana apleca." At this point the Knezinja just shrugged and bowed to the Empress. She hadn't meant to be rude or disrespectful, Gavrila was just not one for politeness or niceties. It was also the reason that she had a tendency to revert back in her native language even if there were other people around who didn't speak it. And it was because Gavrila was this way that Gavril wasn't fond of having her around important people from other nations. The important individuals in Cetatsenia had gotten used to her, plus as she was a Knezinja everyone else besides Gavril was her equal or lesser. And this was not so when dealing with those from other nations. |
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| Demoness | Nov 24 2013, 11:36 PM Post #46 |
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Xel frowned as he returned the bow on Jia Li's behalf. Over the years, he had come to view any lapse in protocol as purposeful disrespect; this was because Jia Li's position, despite her divinity, was rather precarious between her former atheism, her reforms, and her sister's challenging claim. Regardless, it was not his place to correct it and Jia Li actually had no issue with it; she had always been casual and formalities had to be enforced with her. "Yes. A pleasure to meet you," Jia Li replied with a somewhat amused smile. "This is my husband, High Priest Xel." He bowed again and continued to wear a disapproving scowl. "A pleasure to meet you as well, milady," he said. "I agree that it would be interesting to see the nobility's view on the country as well," Jia Li continued. "And I have heard a bit about you." She gave a genuine smile. |
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| Cetatsenia | Nov 24 2013, 11:52 PM Post #47 |
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Gavrila's grin became even wider as Jia Li spoke, and Gavril was obviously relieved that such a lapse in protocol was able to be overlooked. Perhaps his cousin's visit wouldn't be as bad as he thought, though he did notice that Xel didn't look particularly happy. And Gavrila noticed it too. "You don't look very happy," she said to the High Priest, "You should try smiling, you look like my fazer." Then she turned her attention back to the Empress, "And have you really heard about me? Was it my cousin? He usually doesn't like to talk about me. I zink he's embarrassed of me." Her last comment was punctuated with a wink to Gavril. The Voivode just shook his head, "Well now zat we have all met, I zink we should move inside ze palace. It's much more comfortable in zere." At this Gavrila turned at looked at her cousin, "Fut da! I love your palace." And it was at this point that both Gavril and Andreea were glad the Demonessians weren't fluent in Cetatsen; Gavrila had just practically shouted the equivalent of "fuck yeah" right in front of the Empress and her husband. Though they did hide their surprise; it was probably best not to reveal to them what she'd just said. "Well, what do you say Jia Li?" Gavril said, addressing the Empress directly this time. |
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| Demoness | Nov 25 2013, 12:40 AM Post #48 |
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Jia Li stifled a smile; Gavrila's comment was reminiscent of teasing Xel often received from their friends: he acted more like her father than her lover. While somewhat true, it had been out of necessity; he comforted Jia Li after fights with her father while his father, Ikarin, confronted Ashuril. It was also true that he rarely smiled, but he reserved the expression solely for his wife and children. She nodded. "I would love to see how the interior looks after the conversation we had in the car," she replied. |
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| Cetatsenia | Nov 25 2013, 01:01 AM Post #49 |
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Gavril nodded, and turned to head into the palace; however, Gavrila was already ahead of him. She'd started towards the entrance of the castle with Aurel in tow as soon as Gavril had mentioned going inside. Then she looked back at the rest with a smile and shouted, "Dă-I zor!" before entering the palace. Gavril simply shook his head and lead the group inside the wide double doors into the Palatul Regal's entrance hall. Despite the exterior, the interior of the palace was surprisingly modern. The flooring and walls were all polished stone, though the floor had long rugs over top of it, and it was lit via windows as well as lamps and a large chandelier hanging from the ceiling. On each side of the room were a pair of doors, leading to the side-sections of the palace. There were also a pair of staircases that lead to a small second level, which also had doors leading off to the sides. Though most noticeable was another set of wide double-doors, similar to those that lead outside. These doors lead to the palace's Great Hall. Once inside, Gavril turned to Jia Li once again. "Traditionally ze Voivode receives guests in ze Great Hall," he said, "However, since zere are not many of us, we can speak in my personal study if you so wish." |
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| Demoness | Nov 26 2013, 03:12 AM Post #50 |
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The first thing Jia Li noticed were the rugs spread across the floor. The weather of Sacred Rock was often hot - though thankfully not humid - and since it was difficult to keep such a large structure cool, the marble's natural insulation properties were utilized. As such, few rugs concealed the marble in the common spaces and tapestries were hung sparingly against the walls. The living quarters were another story; residents sometimes used rugs to decorate the floors of their "apartments". The second thing she noticed was the chandelier. While there was a chandelier in her great hall, renovations had rid the structure of most other relics, such as braziers, in favor of electricity and natural lighting; the conservation of the single chandelier had been an artistic choice to set off the space and give it a more Western appearance. She looked around, admiring the rest of the immediate area and contrasting it with her own. She turned to Gavril. "I would like to speak in your study, if you don't mind," she replied. "I conduct most of my business in my private library. I find it grants more privacy and it's quite cozy." It was also more like being invited into one's home as it was her private space. |
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