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Cetatsenia-Demoness Meeting
Topic Started: Nov 18 2013, 07:41 PM (8,331 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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"Ah, very good," the Voivode said. In truth he wasn't fond of meeting guests such as Jia Li in the Great Hall, as tradition dictated that the Voivode sat upon his throne while doing so. And he considered Jia Li his equal, even if they were in his domain, and he didn't think it appropriate to meet with the Empress while he was sitting on a throne raised above the rest of the Hall. "We must still travel zrough ze Great Hall however, since my personal rooms are all located behind it, so if you would follow me."

Before he got a chance to start moving, Gavrila spoke up once again. "You guys go on ahead, I'm going to go and get somezing to drink first. I won't be long." And with that she departed from the group, Aurel following without a word.

Gavril and Andreea both exchanged a glance at each other, hoping that by "something to drink" their cousin wasn't referring to anything alcoholic. Chances are she was, but at least Gavrila didn't get drunk easily. Plus Gavrila was just not one for politeness or formalities, she wasn't an idiot; even she realized that it would probably be a horrible idea to get drunk when the head of another nation was visiting. So Gavril just let her go, as trying to stop her would most likely just cause an unnecessary scene.

Gavril shook his head, "Anyway, just come wiz me." He made his way to the doors to the Great Hall, and opened them, leading the group of visiting Demonessians into one of the largest and most spectacular rooms in the castle.

The closest thing that the Great Hall could be compared to was the inside of a cathedral. It had a high vaulted ceiling, supported by columns all along the sides. Instead of church pews several long and ornately carved tables ran the length of it, and the sides were rows of tall windows interspersed with portraits of all the Voivodes of Cetatsenia, from Ioan I to Gavril IV; though one paid attention they may notice that there was a single painting that seemed to have had its face purposely burnt off, revealing the backing of the portrait's frame. And near the farthest end of the Great Hall was a raised dais that contained two ornate thrones, one of gold and one of silver. And above said thrones was a series of five large stained-glass windows. The most central one obviously depicted Ioan I, as he looked nearly the same as the statue outside. However, the other four windows depicted individuals of nobility as well, two of which looked identical. These were the four Knezi that had supported Ioan I in his war for Cetatsenia and had been granted the lands of those who fell before his might, creating the Knezates that continue to the modern day.

"Ioan I was many zings," Gavril said to Jia Li, "But I zink it is evident zat humble was not one of zem."
Edited by Cetatsenia, Nov 26 2013, 02:11 PM.
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Demoness
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While admiring the throne room - and the fact that there were two thrones rather than a single one, implying there was an equality between the monarch and the consort - and the expert quality of the carvings, Jia Li's eyes passed over the burnt portrait. Demonessian custom dictated this person was likely damnatio memoriae, though she found it strange that the destroyed portrait remained, and should not be acknowledged in anyway. However, she hesitated in averting her eyes; the idea that this fate awaited her sister remained in her mind after the conversation in the car. The rest of the party never even looked.

She allowed herself to be distracted by the stained glass windows. The artistry in Demoness remained primitive: if fortunate, buildings preserved their original panels, manufactured in the early days of the craft; those that weren't faithfully imitated the process, allowing impurities in the mixtures to dictate the unevenness of the colors. A few structures had fully illustrated windows, emulating the style of foreign churches, but this was rare.

Jia Li laughed at Gavril's comment. "You have seen my throne room. I think we can give Ioan a pass." She indicated the thrones. "Which is for you and which is for your wife? In Demoness, silver is considered a more 'precious' metal, but I know it is not true for everyone."
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Cetatsenia
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"Ze golden zrone is mine, and ze silver zrone is for my wife, when I finally get married. However, it is not based upon who is Voivode and who is zeir consort," he answered, "Ze golden zrone belongs to ze man and ze silver zrone belongs to ze woman, regardless of who is actually in power. Gold is traditionally more masculine, while silver has been considered more feminine."

Gavril continued on the way to the back of the Great Hall, entering through one of two doors that were located beside and behind the dais with the thrones. They lead to a hallway that was furnished with a deep blue rug and lit by both windows and electric lights, and from there it was a short walk to Gavril's study.

Though he referred to the room as a study, it was actually more of a private library. The floor was the same blue rug as the hallways, and the room was lit the same way as well. There were several shelves of books, and the walls all held books all the way up to the ceiling. There was a desk as well, with four chairs arrayed in front of it.

Gavril motioned into the room, "After you all; please, take seat."
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Demoness
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Jia Li nodded and smiled as she entered the room. Despite displaying proper posture and being rather graceful in motion, her sitting motion more resembled a person releasing a burden from their feet. Xel, on the other hand, remained stiff and in some ways appeared more like the monarch than she. Ariana took a position respectfully just outside the door, resting like a servant awaiting a command rather than a guard; Makoto, the Solar High Guard, took a subtle position a few feet behind Jia Li's seated form.
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Cetatsenia
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Gavril and Andreea both followed the Demonessians into the room, and Andreea took a seat immediately. Her posture wasn't relaxed, but neither was it completely relaxed. Gavril, however, walked around to the back of his chair and removed his greatcoat, draping it across the back of the chair. This revealed his white dress shirt and black pants, held up with a pair of suspenders. It also revealed the handgun he had holstered at his waist. The gun wasn't anything special, he always wore it when he was meeting foreign diplomats in his country. He saw no difference between it and having guards nearby, not that he usually had no guards nearby. Normally he'd have a guard or two alongside him, but he trusted Jia Li and the Demonessians enough that he didn't believe they were necessary. But he still wore his weapon out of habit.

Then he took his seat, obviously more relaxed than his sister, but still sitting politely upright. "Ah, zat coat can get quite hot and stuffy," he said, smiling, "But now zat everyone's here, we can continue conversing, yes?"
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Demoness
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Whether or not Gavril noticed, both Makoto's and Xel's eyes found the holstered pistol and immediately assessed the threat, dismissing it; this took place in a fraction of a second. Jia Li straightened, remembering her posture and smirked. "Yes," she agreed. "Where were we?" She paused a moment and remembered they had begun a discussion about rulers; she wasn't sure she wanted to continue that conversation.

Xel nodded back to the great hall. His posture had relaxed somewhat, though it still appeared that he was ready to leap from his seat at any moment to act; while he called it being prepared, it was more akin to the hyper-vigilance of PTSD. "How would Cetatsenia recognize the authority of your wife?" he asked curiously.
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Cetatsenia
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"Well, technically my wife would have no actual auzority," Gavril said, "However, ze consort of ze Voivode has always had an unofficial position of respect, and since ze Voivode has absolute and unrestricted power ze consort often has some small measure of influence on laws zrough zeir spouse. And should ze Voivode become incapable of ruling wizout actually dying, zeir spouse usually is ze one to serve as regent."

Then he looked from Xel to Jia Li, and wondered the same about Demoness. He knew that Xel was the High Priest, but he still didn't know if he held any kind of political power, or if that rested solely in the hands of Jia Li.

"So, do you have any authority besides that you hold as High Priest?" he asked Xel.
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Demoness
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"In all official matters, the Empress holds sole authority," Xel replied. "However, I am the spokesman for the Church as well as my wife, basically acting as a liaison between the two entities, but I have equal power within the Council of Twelve and should my wife predecease me I will be the first choice for regent if our daughter is too young."

The truth, however, was much more complicated. The High Priest had as much authority as the Empress allowed him; for weak rulers, this meant the Church seized power. In her father's case, Ashuril himself had been a weak regent and coasted on the policies of Empress Lexisa, neither altering or improving any of her plans; in fact, he seldom held interest in them outside the minimal effort needed to keep the country running and it had been the Lawspeaker and Adoni who had surprisingly seized control.

Xel had proven much shrewder than his predecessor. While he respected his wife and did not consider her a weak ruler, she had been poorly trained in her role and this negligence had afforded him the opportunity to "protect" her. Having little interest in military matters, Jia Li allowed Xel to manage her military forces, but she did not realize the full extent of military involvement in her government. He was allowed control of the Demonessian propaganda machine and was knowledgeable of the clandestine and illegal operations of their intelligence network. He kept these hidden from her because he knew she would shut it down and he deemed these operations necessary to keep her in power.
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Cetatsenia
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Gavril nodded, "I see. Actually, I have been wondering, how exactly is your Church structured? Normally I wouldn't bozer wiz such zings, but-"

However, Gavril didn't quite get to finish his sentence thanks to Gavrila and Aurel arriving at the study, accompanied by Gavrila waving and shouting "Hei Gavril, m-am întors! Și am adus vodca! " This was punctuated with her waving a bottle of clear liquid obviously labeled "Vodca". Then she looked at her shoulder, upon which was perched a large ball of rust-coloured fur, "Și am găsit Behemoz." Upon closer inspection, one would notice that said ball of fur was in fact a two-foot long rat, with a collar around its neck and bright blue eyes.

"Aurel, stau aici cu o femeie frumoasă," she said to Aurel, and the older man nodded.

"Of course, doamna," he said, taking a position on the other side of the door from Ariana.

Then Gavrila looked down at the rat on her shoulder and whispered, "Haide Behemoz, hai să ne întâlnim zeita frumos." Then she strolled into the study and took a seat on the arm of Gavril's couch, obviously quite relaxed.

"Hello again, Empress," she said, "Meet Behemoz." At her second sentence, she gestured to the rat on her shoulder, who was currently staring at the Empress without blinking.

Gavril just gave a resigned sigh; he should have expected her to just barge in and disrupt the conversation. He was just glad she'd interrupted him and not one of his Demonessian guests. Andreea on the other hand shot her cousin an irritated look; she'd forgotten just how bad Gavrila could act, and she really wished that she hadn't found and brought Behemoth. Both her and Gavril had hoped that the topic would come up before their guests came across one of the two great rats that they kept as pets and let roam around the palace. After all, not everyone was fond of the rodents and there were many that thought them all vermin; even if the large species was a common household pet in Cetatsenia, being more common than dogs and cats combined.
Edited by Cetatsenia, Nov 30 2013, 10:27 AM.
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The Demonessians appeared to be completely surprised by Behemoth. Due to the prevalence of chitaels in the cities, there were very few rodents or even vermin to be found within city limits. Pets were also in limited supply, as most apartments would not allow animals within their walls, but chitaels were allowed to wander wherever they liked and many were "pets" to several different families.

Jia Li tilted her head and seemed to be contemplating the rat, noting that it was obviously a pet. While not as cute as traditional pets, she was intrigued. The vodka, however, did bring a slight tension to the room, even to Jia Li. While drinking was not frowned up on Demonessian society - it certainly was encouraged during the holidays - excessive drinking was and Yukiko Katsuragi, technically Jia Li's aunt, was the poster child for violent alcoholics. Ariana gave a sideways glance to Aurel as he joined her by the door, evaluating his posture to determine her response to the situation.

However, Gavrila appeared relaxed rather than drunk, so Jia Li adopted a similar posture and smiled as she reached for her husband's hand. She squeezed it, released it, and then reached to pet Behemoth. "Does he bite?" she asked.
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