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ArrowFell: The Wizard Queen's Court

<Snipped quote by Click This>

if hamilton captures raiden, callum has dibs

@The Otter

Hand over the bribe money

ArrowFell: The Wizard Queen's Court

Where's Vespucci

ArrowFell: The Wizard Queen's Court

@Click This Looking gooooood! Did the ships above make a move on the slowly fleeing Raiden and Jikoryss? :>

@Estylwen

Oops, I forgor. A bit too tired to add Hamilton's perspective, so I added more to the second paragraph. Hopefully that works.

ArrowFell: The Wizard Queen's Court

Just an Athius post for the time being. Waiting on Donut for the shenanigans at Mirie's home, and I'm still getting my shit together to see what I can potentially do at Hathforth still.

ArrowFell: The Wizard Queen's Court

Mirie Agustria of the Grand Bank,

Duchess of Caelin

---

Beneath the seas of Athius\\
@Estylwen, @Irradiant, @The Otter

Mirie found herself clicking her tongue as Valor disappeared in a golden glow. The ghostly woman proved to be as elusive as ever; it had been twice now that the right-hand woman of the Ravenfell king had escaped in the face of overwhelming force. She immediately broke off the attack, sharing a grimace with Sir Hayworth. Unlike the Queen, it was set in her mind that Ravenfell was unequivocally the enemy of Arrowfell and Caelin. No matter the coming conflict, she would always consider them an enemy first… and here, it served her well in further securing her reliability in the Queen’s eyes even if her discrete political dalliances with Duke Rhinecliff came to light.

She had been aware of the fight above them, but despite the muffled explosion that she had heard, she had full confidence that Admiral Hamilton had weathered the tribulations that the fleet faced, given the sounds of heavy combat faded nearly immediately after Valor had withdrawn. Sparing a glance above, she saw from the shadow of the ships' hulls that the fleet was forming up in pursuit of something. Although it was difficult to see, it appeared that Hamilton was even having boats launched. Whatever fleeing enemy he was after now, she wished him luck. If her sailors captured one of the fleet's attackers, she would have immense additional political capital to play with.

She had been prevented from directly interfering with the leviathan, however, and without Valor’s additional interference, the queen would receive her tamed beast. Minuette, although she was all too privy to the same geopolitical considerations of the battle was still satisfied with just driving Valor away, moving alongside the duchess as she dove deeper below towards the Queen and her party. Mirie’s eyes briefly locked onto the familiar sword that Callum wielded, but did not comment on it. “Congratulations on your success, your majesty,” she said instead, greeting the Queen. “It would be an honor to accompany you to Athius.”

In a moment of cheekiness, Minuette flashed a V for victory sign with her fingers in greeting— informal as it was, it played to the Queen’s achievement and was understandable when the Countess’s variant of magic that allowed her free movement underwater made it a little more difficult for her to speak than the others.

Nonetheless, Mirie gave her a look that prompted a sheepish smirk from the countess.

Both Mirie and her charge looked at the city before them in wonderment. Although the duchess had been privy to the secret ever since the Queen’s visit, the sheer scale and beauty of the city that was below her waters was awe inspiring. By the time they were greeted by the city’s inhabitants, the duchess’s professional mask had slipped back on.

The unconditional acceptance of the city’s king to union with Arrowfell under the queen was concerning for Mirie, especially given the location of Athius. On the other hand, it disproportionately benefited Caelin if she played along. Its location meant that the Grand Bank would receive the bulk of the newly opened trade with Athius.

She gave a commensurate gesture of greeting when she was called upon. “Greetings. I am Mirie Agustria, Duchess of Caelin. On the behalf of my subjects, I would seek to open trade with Athius. With the proximity of our peoples to each other, and the vanquishing of previously unsurmountable barriers, I am sure we will find a future in business that would benefit Athius, Caelin, and a greater Arrowfell as a whole.” All that had been offered they would gain through trade, but seeing how Minuette’s eyes had lit up when the merman mentioned Athius-made weapons, she didn’t hesitate to add, “But of course, it would be remiss of me to neglect the desires of my own companions. Countess Minuette already seems quite taken with the weapons you craft…”

ArrowFell: The Wizard Queen's Court

A belated happy holidays and a new year, y'all. That was a lot of new posts to get through.

I'll try to have a post up later tonight.

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

---

Éliane let out a light sigh, relieved that Kayliss followed the recommendation that she and Esben had given. Having him recalled would have been a loss, but she also had doubted that the deputy director would have disagreed too much in the end.

“I have no arguments there,” she agreed, deciding not to comment on Esben’s infamous inability to lie. “It would be nice to see Solitude again after all this time.”

It hadn’t even been all that long since she had left—maybe some months now, but with all the fighting and the revelations that she’d received on this journey, it felt far longer than it actually was.

It would also be nice to see her family and the bakery again. Maybe she would even invite Esben and the others.

“Understood. But if the border guards don’t recognize me then I’ll be rather insulted…”

ArrowFell: The Wizard Queen's Court

ArrowFell: The Wizard Queen's Court

Mirie Agustria of the Grand Bank,

Duchess of Caelin

---

Grand Bank, Agustria House\\
@Estylwen, @Donut Look Now

The window stood no chance. Even without the aid of the ring, it was just regular frosted plate glass against a heavy porcelain pot. With a resounding crash, the glass completely shattered as the pot flew out the window, crashing onto the ground below, although jagged shards remained in the frame. The bathroom, conveniently enough was on the first floor so escape was possible, but Mene’s egress by self-defenestration was hindered by the tall hedges and shrubs just outside. The perimeter fence remained beyond. For a moment, there were no guards, but they would come soon from the obvious chaos.

Outside, the maids immediately reacted on hearing the noise, their muffled noises yelling through the door as one tried the lock.

“Hey!! What are you doing in there!?”

“Nothing good. Move!”

There were sounds of a brief scuffle as one shoved the other out of the way.

Then an axe crashed through the door.

--

At the same time, Mirie was still greeting ‘Asteria.’ With a wave at her staff, the two maids left the room, remaining outside as guards. With a smile, she nodded at the girl, although it was slightly strained as she mentioned her household staff. They had been instructed to remain polite but firm, but given the intrigue she had involved them in, the situation could still change at any time. It was strange that Mene did not accompany Asteria—suspicious, even, but it gave her time alone with Laurent’s pet shapeshifter.

“Yes, I did receive a message,” she confirmed, before dropping a bomb. “More than one, in fact…” The duchess picked up the note from the queen, sliding it across the desk for the disguised Nyx to briefly read before taking it back. It was the one that indicated the queen wanted the twins dead.

“Your position is compromised, and you can see my own options to protect you and Mene are limited. For the time being, I may have to keep you two here, but I have a plan.”

Then, of course, all hell broke loose.

---

Swiftsure, At Sea, Several Days Later, Afternoon\\
@Estylwen, @Irradiant

For a moment, it looked like Mirie and the countess’s coordination and effort, combined with Sir Hayworth’s sudden intervention had dispatched the ghost king’s right-hand woman. It quickly became obvious that it wouldn’t so simple to defeat the inhuman ghost as she suddenly responded in a flurry of activity. Acting on instinct, Minuette immediately opened the distance between her and Valor, though it quickly became obvious that it wasn’t that kind of attack as she was snared by cube-like magical prison. For a moment, she was caught, but acting independently, she mimicked Sir Hayworth in simply smashing through the construct with raw power.

Her eyes flicked across to Mirie, expecting but nonetheless relieved that the duchess was unharmed. Her shields had remained in place around her, the two forces clashing against each other before Mirie concentrated and expanded her defenses until the golden cube shattered. Seeing Hayworth rocket up to greet them, she nodded at him. The method of her magic made it difficult to directly communicate as he did, but her intentions were clear anyway.

This time, she readied her own sword as Minuette brought her own weapon up at the ready, fusing magical energy into her own weapon before they rushed Valor as a trio.

This particular Ravenfell threat would end here.

--

Above the surface, things had gotten better for Admiral Hamilton. He was pleased with the coordination of the fleet, forming up in the pseudo air-defense formation that he had ordered. Crisscrossing lines of fire into the air, all laced with canister shot buffeted the sky with metal shrapnel. Now that the mages had recovered, some of it was directed by magic and complimented by spellfire of their own, and it didn’t take long for the large hulking target that was Jikoryss to finally take a crippling hit.

Aboard the Swiftsure, the crew erupted into a sheer as they observed the smoldering lightning dragon plummet towards the sea.
The Admiral’s eyes were not on the falling dragon, though, but the other threat that remained in the air. His eyes tracked Faith, wondering what the man was doing, before he too plunged into the ocean. Had he been hit?

No, that descent had been too controlled, too coordinated. An escape? Rescuing the dragon? Joining the fight below? The scenarios ran through his head, but he had a bad feeling. The air battle was well in hand—the fleet, and Swiftsure was now far more vulnerable from below than anything.

“Shields!” He swiftly ordered to the commander of the mage corps. “Shields, now!”

The mages just barely had the time to reinforce the ship before a massive impact came from below, rocking the ship with a shockwave that threw everyone off their feet once more. With a massive spray of water from below, the lance had hit, the explosion throwing the ship upwards as if it had just crested a wave before the ship came smashing down again. Thrown about, the ship continued to rock, its mast tops swaying about as if it were a small sailboat in a storm.

“Damage report! I want crews below, now!” He bellowed, even as men picked themselves up and began to grab spars and canvas on instinct. Below, the hold began to flood, but Hamilton’s timely action had prevented the damage from being critical. Faith’s attack had caved in a part of the hull, but between the copper sheathing and the half-formed protective spells, it was not a truly gaping hole. Men immediately began to move in, pressing canvas against the leaks and bracing the hull with wooden spars.

Hamilton knew the ship couldn’t take too many more of those hits, but now they were more prepared. His mages would be kept busy trying to protect the ship, but the fleet was still there with their own men.

He gave the order to send another flag signal.

ArrowFell: The Wizard Queen's Court

I'll get a post for the scene in the Grand Bank and Athius in a day or so, but Hathforth might take a little longer. Sorry about the wait.