AAB

The Folly of a Felicitous Prince [CLOSED]

I apologize for the short post. I wanted to get one in this morning so I wouldn't be holding people up, and there's a meeting this morning I still need to do some reading for.

Tsar Gatto and Sarcelle Renard have had some excellent posts and are clearly skilled roleplayers.

The Folly of a Felicitous Prince [CLOSED]

Virka took a few steps away from the guard as the princess strted talking to him. He was sure he could have gotten her in with a little more effort, but she didn't seem intent on doing so.
"... hey Virka? I know it's a bit optimistic ... but do you think there's a way we could stop these animosities through a different method? Forever?"
"Well, if there were only one nation, there couldn't very well be animosities between them, could there?" Virka grinned at his joke. "But in more seriousness, weddings and common enemies would probably be the best chances at peace. And it's the common enemy angle I would push." He paused and playfully added, "Unless you want to run off to Hiertania and marry one of their dull-haired princes."

“Princess Faylinn, Ambassador Munni." Ský Tunglið approached with a respectable greeting.
"Hey, Ský," Virka threw back unprofessionally, "What's the wind have to say today?" That was a slang phrase the common folk used to indirectly ask for news and gossip. And some would say it was not fitting to come from a royal ambassador.

The Folly of a Felicitous Prince [CLOSED]

@AAB poor faylinn left alone :( XD

@RabidAnubis

Sorry! I wanted to get Ihana done next. I haven't forgotten about Faylinn.

The Folly of a Felicitous Prince [CLOSED]

Ihana Ongelma leaned against the palace wall. To her right was the door to the servants' quarters, to her left the door to the kitchen, and where she stood was shadowed by a pillar. Ihana knew of no less conspicuous place to hear more than she should. And indeed, she had.

"A burning house, a rabid din, wail." Ihana whispered to herself, letting the eeriness of the words affect her mood. "Their eyes will stop, their children drop, fail." She put a hand against the cold pillar. "No hope, no peace, an endless tongue. Their tribe will cease, it has begun." She, of course, was referring to the tongue of flame that had turned a village to ash. But moreso to how she expected her uncle Adhémar would react to it.

Ihana turned her head slightly as a servant entered the kitchen. That was Ally. One of the more foolish servants who bumbled about the palace. And yet, Ihana could swear that she would sometimes see whit spark in the girl's eyes. As if...
"Vengeance hiding, colored ghost: you do and show what you need the most." The words glinted through Ihana's mind. And perhaps to another they would be meaningless. But not to Ihana, though such understanding is quite unsurprising given that the words were her own.

Down the hall, Ihana could see people entering the dining hall. Clearly it was time for her to do so as well. It was not as if she had the luxury to have every meal in her quarters. And even if she did, would she take it? "No," Ihana decided, it was best for now that people would see her. Indeed, it was a way to build loyalty. "When you see me, I am near. When you've seen me, I am dear," Ihana thought. That one would need work, to be sure. But it was a phenomenon worthy of more than a verse.

Ihana looked at the apple slices suspiciously. It was early in the season for apples. And Ihana suspected that surrounding herself in apples day and night would do little to garner her affection for them. She picked up her utensils to carve into the meat pie.

The Folly of a Felicitous Prince [CLOSED]

Sorry it's taking me so long to post. I spend time catching up on reading others' posts and then don't have enough left to make mine.

The Folly of a Felicitous Prince [CLOSED]

I get in a post for Ihana either today or tomorrow. (I took Sunday off.)

The Folly of a Felicitous Prince [CLOSED]

I guess we could have the country names that way, but I'll mess up like a hundred times before I get it right, I liked the idea of the Tiadan people being called Tiadani though.

Now that I've finished knitting for the day, it's time for some writing and posting!

@AimeChambers

Great.
Once I see the map and know other country names, I'll make a little chart.

You knit too? :D I am a good knitter.
i.imgur.com/fFuKTmJ.jpg
imgur.com/ytluHZH
imgur.com/lI9Zx3F

English is my third language.

@AtomicNut

Yay: multilinguals! :D What are the other two? And would you be able incorporate some of their style into the way one of your characters talks (since neither of them are necessarily fully Hiertanian in culture), or would that not be worth the effort?

For english to be your third language is amazing! I'm still on my second language (Japanese) and the best thing I can write is, "I went to Sapporro to buy some souvenirs. The souvenirs were really tasty!"

@AtomicNut

:D

One of the more complicated sentences I've made in Finnish while still getting the grammar right:
Miksi sanoin, että viimallinen ei ole elossa?
(Why did I say that the wind-keeper is not alive?)

The Folly of a Felicitous Prince [CLOSED]

So let's have it that the King knows the thugs were from Tiadan but the queen of Lutaires doesn't.

@AimeChambers

The queen sent out scouts to find out. So you could say the scouts discerned that the thugs were from Tiadan. Or if the thugs took a route through Hiertania before coming to Lutaires, the scouts could conclude that the thugs were from Hiertania.

Are Hiertanians and Tiadains similar enough in appearance and behavior that Lutairites couldn't tell them apart?

I figured that it'd be more realistic to have differing forms of referring to the place, the people, the adjective. I know Aime used the -ian suffix for all of them, but I think this would add more cultural flavor. (I am a bit of a linguaphile.) This setup would also have Tiadan be culturally closer to Hiertania than to Lutaires.
Hiertania-Hiertanians-Hiertanian
Lutaires-Lutairites-Lutairi
Tiadan-Tiadains-Tiadain

The Folly of a Felicitous Prince [CLOSED]

I think the most fun part of this is naming the NPCs. :p (google translate for those curious)

I hope I'm not pushing the plot in the wrong direction. I also put Sky in the room with the queen. I hope that's an acceptable starting place for her.

(I'm holding off on Ihana for a bit, until things start to happen in Hiertania, so she won't be a listener with nothing to listen to.)

The Folly of a Felicitous Prince [CLOSED]

Virka flashed a smile to the girl who greeted him. "Hey, Fay," he replied amiably, "There was a border raid, but I haven't heard the whole to-do." He glanced up in thought. "I may get sent on an errand soon -" he looked back down and winked at the girl, "-then I'll know better than anyone what's going on. But what say we go ask your mother? She oughtta have all the details."

Virka led the way toward one of the fancier doors out of the yadi. He had noticed the scratches on Faylinn's arm and thought, "Good for you, kiddo." Jumping into things and getting messy was the most thorough way to learn.

"Ah, Vörn," Virka cheerfully greeted the guard at the next door.
"Sorry, Virka," Vörn said, "The queen is busy and said not to let you in."
"Not to let ME in?" Virka grinned at that, then pushed Faylinn forward slightly.
"Well, how about this sweet girl? Surely she wouldn't mind her own daughter stopping in."

Vörn glanced at Faylinn and bit the edge of his lip. What the queen had actually said was, "I must attend to this matter. Don't let anyone bother me while I do, especially not that lout Virka." But that usually didn't apply to the royal family. But did the princess actually want in, or was she just spying for Virka? "Um,-" Vörn began, but Virka had begun talking again.

"Of course, you could just tell us all the news yourself. Being a foreign diplomat, I of course must know all the details. And surely the queen's private guard would have heard more than a common street guard."

Now this was something Vörn could do. "Oh," he said, "I know that Her Majesty has General Viska and Lady Ský Tunglið with her, and that she sent Fela and Leita out almost as soon as she heard the news."

Virka was familiar with Fela and Leita, the brother-and-sister scout duo. They wouldn't dilly-dally. But what were they sent to learn? Motivation was clear, and if they were trying to catch someone who hadn't been apprehended with the others, Grípa would have gone too. They must be tracking the bandits' trail...backwards?

"Why, they're tracking the trail backwards!" announced Virka, not one to let his genius go unknown.
"Uh, yeah," replied Vörn in a tone that said he'd thought it obvious, "We can't take any definitive action without being sure of where they came from."