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Cetatsenia-Demoness Meeting
Topic Started: Nov 18 2013, 07:41 PM (8,268 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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Gavrila grinned, "All right, sounds great. Let us go." She was about to head down to the kitchen to get the drinks, but she stopped herself and turned back to Jia Li. "So, what about Xel?" she asked, "Is he gonna come too?"
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Demoness
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Xel raised an eyebrow. "I think we both assumed you'd be talking about girly things," he said dryly.
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Cetatsenia
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Gavrila just shrugged. "Well it does not not particularly matter to me eizer way," she said, then to Jia Li, "Alright, first we head down to ze kitchen to get ze drinks. Follow me." And with that Gavrila made her way out the door, stopping once she was out of the study to make sure that Jia Li and Marcus were behind her.

Once they were gone, Gavril just chuckled to himself and looked at Xel. "If someone had told me zat ze day would wiz your wife going to get a drink wiz Gavrila, I would have called zem crazy," he said, "And not just because I zought she was back in Sudest."
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Demoness
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Xel raised an eyebrow. "Why is that?"

---

Jia Li was light on her feet as she followed Gavrila and Marcus quietly followed them. Both of the guards had been solemn and it seemed that they had been trained to act like they were not individuals, but if Jia Li's interaction with Ariana was any indicator, she appeared to have a close relationship with some of them. Then, of course, there was her relationship with her husband, also a former guard.
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Cetatsenia
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"As you may have noticed, our cousin lacks tact," Andreea said simply.

"Yes, I zink Jia Li is ze exception when it comes to Heads of State I want her around," Gavril added, "Most are a bit more, well, formal. And my cousin most assuredly is not."

------

Gavrila smiled at the way Jia Li treated Ariana it reminded her of how she was with Aurel. She glanced back at him and smiled; he rarely spoke and seemed to be there only for Gavrila, but in truth they had a rather close relationship.

The Knezinja lead the group to the kitchen, humming as she did so. It was only a short ways away, and was quite loud as servants chatted as they washed and cleaned dishes. Horea was there as well, though he did little but nod as Gavrila came in, grabbed a bottle of vodka, and then turned to Jia Li.

"I assume you are not exactly one for hard liquor, so what exactly do you want?" Gavrila asked, grinning, "You want some wine? I do not zink Gavril will care if we headed down to his wine-cellar and snagged a bottle."
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Demoness
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When Ariana was dismissed, she slinked from the room to take care of the security arrangements with the rest of their forces and to take care of other portions of her duties.

Xel nodded. "Yes, I had noticed, but I'm sure you've also noticed Jia Li doesn't mind informality. A lot of it has to do with her upbringing. On the one hand, she is supposed to be raised to be 'apart' from the Demonessian people as she's a direct spiritual descendant of their deity, but that environment was never maintained for her and her sister. She was very friendly with mostly everyone she came into contact with."

He shook his head; it was a contrast with his daughter, for whom the environment had been maintained. He didn't believe Emonatsu or Lexisa had believed themselves to be superior to anyone and they had been raised the same way, yet he had no other cause to suspect had created her young arrogance.

---

Jia Li shrugged. "Wine is good. I sometimes have mixed drinks as well," she replied. "But hard liquor definitely isn't my thing. I've seen too many good people go bad from drinking it and while I know it's not the liquor's fault, I still try to avoid it."
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Cetatsenia
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"True, but zere is also ze fact zat my cousin has a bad habit of speaking, and acting, before she zinks zings zrough," Gavril said, "And zat can sometimes offend people, even zose who are not particularly formal."

"We have learned ze hard way zat she can come off as being rude," Andreea said.

------

Gavrila opened her bottle of vodka and took a swig of it while Jia Li spoke, nodded her head in agreement. "Yeah, it is not for everyone and I know not everyone can handle it," she said, shrugging, "My ex-husband for example. Anyway, let us go get you zat wine."

As Gavrila lead the group out, she stopped and picked up a wine glass, handing it to Jia Li. The wine cellar was also only a short walk away, and Gavrila continued to hum as she lead them to it. The cellar itself was down a set of steps behind an unassuming doorway. At the top of the stairs Gavrila flipped a switch, illuminating the cellar. It was quite a large room, even larger than the study they had just left, with numerous racks of wines lining the walls.

"Here we are," Gavrila said with a grin as she turned to Jia Li, "Wait here." She turned and made her way to the racks, quickly pulling a bottle of wine off the shelf and returning to Jia Li.

"Here we go," she said, beaming as she held out the bottle, "Zis is some good stuff, but not so expensive zat my cousin will get pissed at me."
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Demoness
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Xel nodded. "Yes, I had noticed that, and with certain cultures, especially ours, 'rudeness' can cost you much."

---

Marcus didn't treat Jia Li like a delicate child and allowed her to walk down the stairs using the railing like a normal adult. Both of them admired the racks of wines, though only the former really knew anything about wines; Jia Li appreciated them, and that was enough.

Jia Li laughed. "I'm sure he won't mind."
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Cetatsenia
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Gavril shook his head, "I have to say zat I would be very worried should she ever decide to visit Demoness."

"To be honest I do not even want to zink of what ze consequences could be if she offended ze wrong person," Andreea said, mirroring her brother's sentiment.

------

"Actually, zere is some stuff in here zat he probably would get mad at me for drinking," Gavrila said with a laugh, "Some of ze stuff in here is old and expensive as hell. Anyway, hold out your glass and let me pour-"

"Please doamna, allow me," Aurel said, his hands moving towards the bottle.

Gavrila just shrugged and handed the bottle over. The Aurel turned to the Empress, "Please, allow me to pour you your drink."
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Demoness
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Xel smirked. "I suppose you can have someone escort her so that she doesn't make too big a fool of herself, though foreigners do have some leeway when it comes to customs. She just might push that too far."

---

Jia Li smiled. "Thank you, Aurel," she said as he poured her drink. "I have to admit, I never understood why people stored wine and never drank it. I mean, I know the value goes up, but what's the point in owning something if you're never going to enjoy it?"

Marcus thought about interjecting, but part of his training was not to act informally with anyone in front of guests. He didn't have as close a relationship with Jia Li as some of the others on the plateau, being older, but he had gotten to know her well over the last ten years.
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