[IC] Princess-Champions of Hyperborea

**Anarion** · 2019-07-16, 03:17 PM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by Raz_Fox

“Adila!” she cries, waving you over with a bangle-bedecked arm. “Thank Ourania you’re here. You wouldn’t believe what a time of it we’ve had!”

“The Heart’s as good as found, now,” the blonde says, faintly, but with absolute confidence. She keeps her eyes down on the chess board that sits between her and her exuberant friend.

“I don’t think we’ve met,” the beaming princess says, offering her hand to you. “I’m Tashanna, and please, allow me to formally welcome you to Jedad.” It would be hard to feel more welcomed if you were hit with a giant stamp that said WELCOMED on it in block letters. “And you must be one of Oberon’s children, right?”

The way she says his name... she can’t have met him. Nobody who knows your father would say his name like that, like they’re excited to know him. Not if they knew the man who you had, arguably, seen just this very same day.

"Tashanna. It's a pleasure to meet you." Kazelia tries a small bow. "I should, um, warn you that the way Shazari's handmaidens behaved when I met them earlier would be viewed as highly insulting and cause for a formal duel by all of my sisters. I... may have slapped one of them, for which I formally apologize."

Kazelia is getting that sense that something here isn't right. But after the illusions earlier, and her newfound ropesnake decorations (of course she's still wearing the snakes, they enjoyed the guitar very much by the by) she's decided that she's going to approach it differently. Less like a panic and more like one of those murder mystery theater moments. She knows someone is here that isn't supposed to be, and they can obviously pick her out, so her role is to flush them out. That means you, Ninian.

She turns to the blond princess. "I don't believe we've been formally introduced, but I should warn you as well that one of my sisters is nearby and she is an excellent infiltrator, so I would suggest not discussing any details of the heart. I am hoping to find her, so please let me know if you've seen anything suspicious."

Kazelia tries to settle back a bit. "I guess all I have are warnings, you must think all Riders are terribly dour. Which is not true, many of my sisters are cruel, vindictive and spiteful too!" That was a joke. Everyone is laughing right? It was funny. "So, what um, what have you heard about Oberon and his daughters down here?"

**PhoeKun** · 2019-07-16, 08:12 PM (ISO 8601)

This is confusing. Is she doing this wrong or right? Some of the time Rhyza sounds like a normal person, some of the time she sounds weird and cold. She looked disappointed when Alina undid the scarf-leash (the look on her face made Alina want to tie it right back on there), but now her posture is all stiff and full of 'stop touching me' body language and it's very upsetting. Still, she'd be a jerk to ignore it. She reluctantly lets go, and settles for just walking kind of close while her suddenly too-free fingers start tying and untying knots in her scarf.

"Oh! D-did... did you like that? Because I can--"

Oh gosh, Alina, have a little more decorum than that! Of course she's pretty but you're still a princess and a princess must always be beautiful. Plus she's still stuck halfway between deciding if you're her enemy or not. You have to try harder to make sure she doesn't think you're just using her as part of some 19-part scheme! Just be... be natural or something.

"I know I'm supposed to say it's too intense," she says with a note of laughter in her voice, "But actually I like how rich Jedad-spiced food is. In, you know in Illumina we don't have as many different seasonings to work with, so getting to try the sorts of things you made here always felt like a special treat to me. It's the one thing we've always seen eye to eye on, Jedad and I. There's really just the one thing that confuses me..."

And now she can't help it and has to lean in suuuuper close again, because Alina Cascade is streetwise enough to know that this is a very dangerous thought. About the only thought more dangerous would be yelling out her name right here in the middle of the street. And a thought that dangerous had best be kept to whispers:

"Why pears?"

This little flourish has always felt to her like Jedad's haughty, boorish culture finally managing to assert itself over their otherwise quite interesting and creative ideas about cuisine. It doesn't go with a lemon cake at all! Either it's practically water, in which case why is it even there? You might as well garnish it with parsley for all the good it did you on a lemon cake. Or you found a really strong pair, and then it overpowered all those wonderful lemon flavors! And if they thought it was boring, why didn't they just do what Illumina did and cross it with other citrus flavors? Alina knows five different ways to add a splash of orange that makes her lemon cakes just divine. And she can't even come close to the way Jessamin uses flowers in her recipes! The rose and the lavender especially are just... she smiles, thinking about it. As soon as she finds her little sister again and gets their home back the way it should be, she resolves to make that the very first thing they do together. B-but the point is, a pear is just morally and creatively bankrupt!

Alina giggles, so that none of those thoughts make the leap from her head to her mouth and ruin everything in the process.

"What about you? Do you enjoy Illuminan cuisine?" she glances up with a spark of hope in her eyes.

**Thanqol** · 2019-07-17, 02:09 AM (ISO 8601)

Princess Adila would very much like to go through the transformation into her human shape in the privacy of an alley, but there was a for-real shapeshifter on the loose and the Operations Manual was pretty clear that private time was pretty much off the cards until that was resolved.

She'd begged and begged the Watch magicians to teach her this spell. She'd scrimped and saved until she'd been able to purchase the basics of the technique from an Askatian sorcerer and had spent months getting her head around it. After taking a month of long service leave to more or less focus on cracking this one spell - and having a number of alternately comedic and horrifying failures - she'd mastered it.

But the problem was that it wasn't true shapeshifting - it was more like a really complicated illusion where your full body is folded up like origami but still present. For the Askatians this was ideal because it allowed them to maintain their catlike grace and reflexes despite their comparatively immense size. This also meant that if an Askatian took human form they remained as weak as a kitten, with the sole exception of Princess Rita who was a legendary weightlifter among her people...

She didn't want to think about this any more - didn't want to think about what the day she'd built up to be her greatest triumph had turned into. This shape was just pure bad memories for her. But the job was the job and she wasn't going to let her feelings get in the way.

So that was what she focused on. She hoped Kazelia wouldn't find her transformation unsettling but was determined not to even nervously glance across to see if she did. Nothing more to say about this.

+Thank you, Officer Maud,+ she thought, firmly folding her arms behind her back in the 'I am not going to touch anything' pose. +Let's catch up after this case is over.+

She wished she could spend time with her old friend right now but her heart was too tangled to focus.

*

+Princess Helya,+ thought Princess Adila with serene placidity, +Princess Tashanna.+

She was consciously imitating the Rowan Princess' calm and poise. Partly because her personal physics engine felt like it was set to Goat Simulator right now - if she slightly bumped someone it would send them twenty feet into the air, and if she took what felt like a normal sized breath it'd result in columns of fire. But the other reason was because a lot of the rules r.e. how to handle the Rowan Princess were written after teenage Adila had been like 'psh yea, as if this dinky little horse chick can take me, a literal dragon?' Before she'd known it they were into a full on contest of strength and skill. It had been one of her most destructive afternoons and she'd been chewed out by her commanding officer at length afterwards.

She still nursed a bit of a grudge over her defeat, and a private conviction that Princess Helya had been cheating somehow. She needed to keep that under control because now was definitely not the time.

She was more confident around nice, safe, law-abiding Tashanna - so long as she didn't fall in with any bad influences. Like the population of a Princess House. Hmm. Better move quickly.

+As you might be aware, my mission is to find the Heart of Jedad,+ said Princess Adila, levitating out her notebook in her glittering silver light. Part of her wanted to keep this ability secret from these Princesses so she'd have a tactical advantage in battle, but part of her really wanted to show it off and make them worry that now Princess Adila had powerful Illuminan magic as well! Better not try anything, punks! ... She hoped nobody had noticed her thinking that. +Further, as Deputy Kazelia has indicated, there exists the presence of a dangerous Rider shapeshifter at large in the city who is wanted for assault and kidnapping. I would like to take your statements regarding your reasons for your visit and any information you possess regarding the Heart or this criminal.+

**Raz_Fox** · 2019-07-17, 02:25 AM (ISO 8601)

Kazelia!

The look that Tashanna gives you for a moment is a very complex one. You might describe it best as “confused, concerned pity.” The kind you might give Alina if she started melting down over not having anything to wear to the Crystal Gala, because the clothes she’s wearing don’t count as the right kind of special clothes, for some reason. Something outside of your understanding, but something you’re still determined to understand, even though it might break your heart even more.

She smoothes that moment of (planned?) facial vulnerability over by patting your hand (carefully, to avoid riling up the rope snakes draped all around you) and smiling more gently at you. “Only the best, dear. Would you like to come for a walk in the garden with me? You just have to see the cacti arrangements.”

She might be offering you a chance to unload some of your feelings about your family in a private, confidential manner, without feeling exposed in front of Adila and her friend. Or, she might be luring you into a trap, to tie you up in her bedroom and take your face and trick Adila into failing her investigation by pretending to be you!

On the one hand, saying no to her face would be like punting a puppy, and you oddly feel like you might have first-hand experience with that metaphor, and Morgina was somehow involved. On the other hand, can you really trust anybody right now? Can you, when Ninian could be any of the princesses in here??

On the extra magical ice hand, if Ninian is impersonating anyone, she’d either have had to have planned it well in advance (like she likely had with Brookley, who is probably in an Iluminan glass mine at this very moment) or would have to find someplace to stash them securely. Which means if you search everywhere, and don’t find Tashanna, it’s probably safe to trust this Tashanna. Unless Ninian kidnapped Tashanna a week ago and has been ping-ponging—

No, that wouldn’t make sense, right? Even Ninian can’t be in two places at once or control an illusion from halfway across the city.

Unless your dad’s also here, working with Azora, and is standing right in front of you. Or Azora’s using a chameleon mask to imitate Tashanna. Or they bought out Tashanna and this is all a huge trap designed for you personally.

What do your sisters want here, anyway? Are they after the Heart? Did they instigate this? Or are they just taking advantage of the chaos?

Rhetorical questions, by the way. I mean, you can make up your mind, if you like, but I meant them rhetorically.

***

Adila!

“I’ll keep the constable busy,” Helya says, half-jesting, to Tashanna. “Don’t let us keep you.” Because she can see that Tashanna’s doing her “I want to be best friends with you” routine, and also because you’ve got history. Maybe not bad history, but history all the same. She stands and gets just close enough to be comfortable and a peer in conversation without crowding you. She’s nice like that.

“I’m here because it’s Carnival,” Helya says. “And also because I wanted to bring my fiancée some gifts in person. I thought I’d have the opportunity to stop worrying about Riders for a few days.” Her smile is wistful, papering over... there’s an exhaustion in her eyes. “I know what you’re talking about, more than anyone else here does. I haven’t...”

She trails off, looking at Tashanna and Kazelia. “I haven’t gone into detail. No need to bring down the mood at Carnival,” she says, softly, in the confidence of the space between you. “But I understand what one of them being here means. Deputize me. Let me help.”

“Helya,” Tashanna says, her lovely brow furrowed with concern, “you promised me you were going to get some rest.”

“I will,” Helya says, with a weary bravado. “Really. This just needs to be done first.”

Tashanna looks at you, and, well, “like kicking a puppy” comes to mind. She seems to be concerned for Helya’s health, but, on the other hand, Helya would be an awesome pull here.

“Also she’s in town because she wants to kiss me,” Helya says, and Tashanna squeaks in a very familiar fashion.

“I— darling!! I’m here because you asked me—“

“To kiss, yes.”

“Hellie!!”

***

Rhyza!

Clock and chime and peal, is this princess out of her mind? You grab her protectively while glancing about, just in case a chef happens to be nearby. You can’t just say that, even if the Bazaar is full of people from all over! And—

Nope do not let that hand cover her mouth because then you’re both doomed, lower it, you’re a hair’s breath away from disaster, brush your fingers down against that flushed neck until you hit the collar and then pry your fingers away from her.

“The pear,” you say, loudly, just in case, “is the most noble fruit in Hyperborea. It is rich, wet, and sweet in turn, like a life-giving stream in the desert. The lemon cake finds its elevation in the marriage, like a talented commoner chosen by a queen.” Oh hey Rhyza where did that thought come from. Be honest.

Ah, good! A question about food. This is safe. “Your food’s delicious and pleasant to look at,” you say, quite honestly, “though a bit too expensive for me. But the way you grill fish! It melts in my mouth. And your sauces make me want to lick the plate clean,” you add, not really paying that much attention to how the princess is taking your word choices and the delighted little growl in your voice. “And your little sweets, your cookies and tarts and little cakes... I love just gobbling them up.”

Crash!

A tub of reeking oil is upended by a careless customer, spilling out over the tiles in front of you. As the shouting match explodes around you, you act on instinct and do what you would for any pretty little thing you escort: you scoop the princess up into your arms and carry her over it. Your boots have seen worse than oil, but it would be a shame for her slippers to be ruined.

...she smells really, really nice. And she’s so light, and warm, and your hand is on her petite little rump to support her weight but it feels more dangerous now to be there. And like this, you could just look all the way down her—

“So,” you say, grasping at straws for a safe conversation topic, not trusting yourself to look down, “is it true you once seduced one of Shazari’s sisters as part of a scheme to steal the crown jewels?”

**Thanqol** · 2019-07-17, 02:48 AM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by Raz_Fox

Adila!

“I’ll keep the constable busy,” Helya says, half-jesting, to Tashanna. “Don’t let us keep you.” Because she can see that Tashanna’s doing her “I want to be best friends with you” routine, and also because you’ve got history. Maybe not bad history, but history all the same. She stands and gets just close enough to be comfortable and a peer in conversation without crowding you. She’s nice like that.

“I’m here because it’s Carnival,” Helya says. “And also because I wanted to bring my fiancée some gifts in person. I thought I’d have the opportunity to stop worrying about Riders for a few days.” Her smile is wistful, papering over... there’s an exhaustion in her eyes. “I know what you’re talking about, more than anyone else here does. I haven’t...”

She trails off, looking at Tashanna and Kazelia. “I haven’t gone into detail. No need to bring down the mood at Carnival,” she says, softly, in the confidence of the space between you. “But I understand what one of them being here means. Deputize me. Let me help.”

“Helya,” Tashanna says, her lovely brow furrowed with concern, “you promised me you were going to get some rest.”

“I will,” Helya says, with a weary bravado. “Really. This just needs to be done first.”

Tashanna looks at you, and, well, “like kicking a puppy” comes to mind. She seems to be concerned for Helya’s health, but, on the other hand, Helya would be an awesome pull here.

“Also she’s in town because she wants to kiss me,” Helya says, and Tashanna squeaks in a very familiar fashion.

“I— darling!! I’m here because you asked me—“

“To kiss, yes.”

“Hellie!!”

Princess Adila makes a concerned face, does an +Uhuh, uhuh,+ and nods seriously, but what she's writing down in her notebook is 'They make an adorable couple!!!! <3 <3 <3' and some sketches of super-pretty wedding dresses that would totally fit these two. +I appreciate the offer of assistance, Princess Helya, and I will strongly consider taking you up on it. However, I need to take your statement and that of the other Princesses before I can make any decisions. Please, can you go through with what you know about the Heart and the involvement of the other Princesses regarding it?+

[Speak Softly: 12
What can they tell us about the Heart of Jedad?
What can they tell us about the other Princesses?
What should I be wary of when dealing with them? (Especially with regards to deputizing Helya)]

**PhoeKun** · 2019-07-17, 07:32 PM (ISO 8601)

Alina is a beautiful mess right now. If anybody on the street had overheard her and took offense to her pear-based audacity, they must surely forgive her now because she is so obviously smitten with this tall swordswoman that the only explanation for it is that she's been completely won over by that very particular metaphor. In actual fact, drawing a line of comparison between Queen Halcyon and a pear is a short road to disaster, but Alina's so busy being caught up in the feeling of fingers sliding down her neck to her collar (which she should really mind a lot, if she thought about it, but for some reason it's been really hard to be quite herself today) and giggling at Rhyza's choice of words to compliment Illuminan cooking to move past the fact that she also basically called Mama Isolde a lemon cake. Which is something Alina did a lot when she was about three.

Then she's picked up and carried past an oil spill and, that's it. Game Over. She's done. If Rhyza doesn't stop being so winsome and soon, there's a very real danger that Alina will not arrive to the House in any fit state to entertain anybody, let alone a bunch of princesses. Today is a kiss away from being perfect again. Which she probably won't get, but she's past worrying about it because... because... hm? What was that? Alina looks up at Rhyza's face. She's extremely tempted to reach up and pull Rhyza's gaze down to hers, but she settles for just wrapping an arm around her neck to play with that gorgeous flame-colored hair.

"It's as true as you want it to be," she purrs, "Just like every other story you've heard about me."

It's funny, actually. Thinking about Tashanna makes her smile. Not because she was such a sweet and silly girl (she is!), but because the association makes her realize how many positive memories of Jedad she has. Illumina is where she grew up and learned how to be a princess. Askaia and Rowan are the places she went to play, and where all of her best friends lived. But Jedad is where she really grew into the self image she's been trying so hard to hold onto. This is the place that made her so brave. Tashanna was the girl who really made her think she was worth kissing (and for that matter, convinced her once and for all that she was serving for the right Brightball team, as it were). True, people hated her here. And she and Shazari would never, ever be friends. But in its way, Jedad is still special to her. There are memories here every bit as worth protecting as the ones in Summerveil. Would she have ever realized it without today? Without Rhyza? Or for that matter, without the impending threat of a furious giant snake with eyes that shot lasers?

"Hey," she says, a little more serious this time, "I know you're probably not thrilled about me... being me. And some part of you is worried that this is some new trick I'm pulling to rope you into stealing the crown jewels for me again, or some other thing like that. But don't be, ok? Even if it's just for this little while, I'm yours. And I'm going to protect you. That's a promise."

**Anarion** · 2019-07-17, 08:35 PM (ISO 8601)

Tashanna is so cute! She is extremely cute, and it is the squeaking that really lets Kazelia know this is okay. Ninian, any of her sisters really, they couldn't squeak like that, not with Oberon as their father, not with how vicious they are. They just couldn't do it. No, not even Kaja, not even then Alina, I'm sorry. Riders under the supreme control of Oberon do not squeak. Maybe...maybe if Kazelia were in just the right circumstances, just the right situation, just relaxed enough, she could get tickled just right and squeak in shock. Just maybe, but if we're being honest, maybe not. Also, if Tashanna's pure ignorance about Oberon is an act, Ninian has been taking a lot of thespian classes and...well anyway, Kazelia is convinced that Tashanna isn't a fake.

So, she nods, glances at Adila to make sure it's okay, sees that her friend is fully engrossed in taking Helya's statement, and therefore rises and carefully offers her hand to Tashanna (it's cold) to walk out into the garden together. Kazelia tries not to ask things of Tashanna immediately. Not cutting straight to the point this time, though asking what Shazari wants and what Tashanna knows about the heart and the black princess and such are certainly on the tip of her tongue. But no, not yet, not right away. Let's just walk and enjoy the, uh, beautiful cacti and see what Tashanna wants to talk about first. There will be time for questions. Or there won't and Kazelia would be okay with that too.

**Raz_Fox** · 2019-07-17, 10:15 PM (ISO 8601)

Adila!

“So here’s what I think happened.” Helya’s got a map of the temple complex laid out on the table, and she’s feverishly annotating it. “The Heart is here, within the inner sanctum. The snake-husband’s not a problem until he wakes up, and any competent thief would already have made for this exit here. So, you need the seal that opens the sanctum gate, yes? The easiest way for a shapeshifter to do that is to steal the identity of the high priestess. Then everyone thinks she’s just doing a routine purification ritual, when really, she’s prying the Heart out of its pedestal. And then when he woke up, she’s already gone.”

She drags her quill down towards the mountain’s side, all sharp turns and flights of stairs to the window. “It’s a full sprint down corridors, here, trying not to be caught by any of the guards, while the husband uses this major exit, and tries to cut her off. Except he doesn’t, she jumps out the window, glides onto a waiting horse below, and then rides away. Then she heads back here, sends word to the B.P. that she’s— no, she doesn’t even need to do that, the Jedadi will do that for her with the hue and cry. Then the B.P. makes her demand. So the thief just has to lie low here, somehow disguising the Heart, maybe through illusion magic? She just has to wait it out until Shazari caves.”

Which is true. And frustrating! And true. Okay, let’s think through this. If it’s Ninian, the specifics probably don’t matter too much, but Helya seems to think they do. Several of the moves she’s suggesting Ninian made are athletic and daring, especially jumping from a window and gliding down. Why? Why not use a pegasus, or turn into a bird? For some reason, she can’t use wings. Instead she’s relying on her body, her prowess, her courage.

...

Let’s say, just for the sake of argument, that Helya did it. Changes this makes to the case: explains why she has a working theory on how it was robbed, explains the methods which are incongruous with a Rider shapeshifter, provides suspect with alibi/safehouse/garrulous social cover. Suspect would not keep stolen object on person; necessary to keep close and retrievable. Suspect made reference to bringing T.ofJ. gifts. (Circled furiously.)

Your pen is practically smoking now.

Motive?? Known Iluminan connection? At war with Riders? Not enough information. (Underlined so hard it imprints on three pages below.)

You look up, with the Most Adila Subtlety, and Helya’s already staring you down. The corner of her mouth twitches upward. She knew you’d figure it out. She practically just admitted it to you. So now she’s daring you, who already lost to her once, in a form where you could actually use your strength as it was meant to be used, to try something.

Spoiler: Princess Helya Laynasdottir of Rowan

Show

Hyperborean Paragon. Helya will never turn down a challenge of speed, strength, skill or luck, and will always offer them to her foes.

Better Than You. During a challenge, Helya's cuts are always Hard Cuts.

Is That All? When Helya would be damaged or destroyed, damage this stat first.

“And it’s not just that it’s antagonizing the snake-husband,” she continues, calmly. “It’s that while Jedad has it, it’ll never fall. If the B.P. gets her hands on it, who’s to say she won’t claim that Jedad’s still an Iluminan vassal-state?” There is a coldness in her eyes that... she’s not a Rider, but she’s not too far off from being one, either. Something happened to her. Or maybe she always had the potential to be like this, under the right circumstances. Motive: more information needed.

“I don’t think you’re likely to get much out of the other princesses,” she continues, like nothing in the world is wrong. “You know Hornet never pays attention—“ Hornet is here?? That unhinged tinker would, under more usual circumstances, be the emergency— “and you and I both Kyouko would never dare to do something this serious; Dandy’s just spacing out, and none of us know Natasha that well.”

And speak of the devil, that’s when Hornet walks into the room, holding a box, followed by the clop-clop of Dandy’s boots on the tiles.

“Presenting,” Hornet says, “The Marvelous Theft-Detecting Device, Mark VII!!”

Chime and peal.

***

PROFILE: Princess Hornet of Hobling Keep

The thing about princesses is that their threat rating is calculated independently of their actual combat prowess. Hornet would probably lose a fight with an actual hornet. She is one of the most dangerous princesses in Hyperborea and there is a special detachment that (under normal circumstances) would be tailing her from the minute she arrived. This is because she does not have a filter between “can I make this” and “I have now made this,” where most people go either “is making this even possible,” “is making this a good idea” or “why would I ever, in a million years, make this?”
She once donated a Marvelous Theft-Detecting Device to the Watch, which she claimed was sensitive to “theft ions” which linger after the act of theft. Upon activation in the blessed Bazaar, it immediately overheated, spun through a window, and then exploded. She has also been responsible for “the Giant Clockwork Scorpion Incident” and “that time she turned everybody in the Bazaar invisible for 24 hours,” and of course “that time she made a Chime-Predicting Water Clock that had to be suppressed and destroyed to avoid sparking a holy war between the Palatines and the Igniters.” (“It also does earthquakes,” she told you proudly at the time, and you weren’t sure whether she meant predicting them or causing them.)
If you see her holding tools within city limits you are required to yell and slap them out of her grimy little paws.

PROFILE: Princess “Dandy” of Feloria

Feloria is a study in contrasts. The people are as airy and useless as Iluminans when you meet them during the festivals! All flowers and bare feet and vibing with the magic flowing through all of Hyperborea. True love is the most powerful force in the universe! Dance around the may pole and kiss someone cute and eat until you can’t even get up!
And then afterwards they go back to their farms, put on their overalls and work boots, roll up their sleeves, and get to work. Nature is worth vibing with and being one with, but nature’s also messy and dirty and makes you all scuffed up and sunburnt. Life in Feloria is simple, fulfilling, and practical, even as they dreamily look forward to the next festival.
Dandy is a perfect mixture of these traditions. Even when she’s got a Carnival dress on, she’ll have her iron-toed boots on under the skirt. You’ll get up early for some peace and quiet and find her coming back inside beaming after helping with a foaling at unearthly hours of the morning, and she’ll offer to read your palm while still dripping with Horse Juices. She is either the spaciest or the most intensely practical princess you know and you can’t tell which one it is.

***

Kazelia!

The garden is cool in the heat of the day. Noise from other parts of the house seems muffled, quiet. Over on the other side of the garden, some sort of construction is being finished— it looks like a set of stairs? But it’s hard to make out from the thick of the flowering vines where Tashanna’s leading you.

“I don’t mean to pry,” she says, her fingers around yours, and she doesn’t pull away from your cold. “But you told us one of your sisters was here, and you sounded... worried.” And not just about that, she does not say, loudly. You make jokes about your family that have pain inside them. “Your father has been selling us ice and trying to find common ground. Is there something else that you’re worried about?”

And the way she says that—

She really wants to know!

Not just because it’s important to what’s going on, because it is, but because she can tell you’ve got a lot of hurt all knotted up inside and wants to help you. And I think somebody treating you like this...

This is alien. This is unprecedented. Your new friends might do it, but she just met you and is already concerned for your well-being.

Do you tell her anything? Do you connect, or do you pull away? Either way, you’re going to end up by the stairs in a moment, and then other things may happen, but right now, in this moment, you can, if you choose, voice things that have been long in the dark inside you. Or you can armor yourself in ice; you may let the moment pass.

***

Alina!

Rhyza looks down, finally, at your face (and a little lower, and then, flushed, back up at your face). And you can see her at war with herself. But what tips her over the edge isn’t you playing with her vibrant hair, no.

It’s that promise. A reminder that you’re not just a princess, you’re capable of taking care of yourself. You have feelings, and you can darn well decide to put your heart in danger, so she can can it with all the chivalrous “protecting your heart” stuff. You’re a big girl who knows what she’s getting into— RHYZA, YOU WATCH THAT HAND.

“Thank you,” she says, bringing you up a little closer to her face. Hand. Hand is nice. Face is nice. “But I think you have it the wrong way around, my little dancing girl. You’re mine.” oh boy. oh wow. oh ourania. “And after you dazzle all those princesses at the House of Hospitality, I’m going to find out for myself how many of those stories are true. And we’ll keep going until I’m satisfied.” you have never needed to hear all the gossip about yourself more in your life, actually.

And here, I’m sorry to say, your romantic date with Rhyza gets sidetracked, because to get to the place she’s got in mind for your meal (and maybe she’ll insist on hand-feeding you), you end up having to skirt the edges of a crowd that’s forming in the shadow of the Watch’s great big evil-looking fortress. And there’s a crowd forming because there’s somebody standing on a wagon, loudly talking to them. She looks— well, kind of Iluminan, actually. And like she just got beaten up. By, say, the Watch.

“...not only that,” she says, gesturing up at the fortress, “but they’ve grown so arrogant, so certain that everyone here needs to depend on them, that they have the Heart right now!” A wave of discontent washes through the crowd. You can see Felorian hair decorations, all flowers and ribbons, and Rowani leathers, and Askaian feathers. People from all over end up here, especially in Carnival season. “They’d rather risk the lives of everyone here than look weak in front of Shazari!”

It’s hard not to want to agree. It’s uncharitable! But also, you’ve had your fair share of scrapes with the Watch. (But Adila would never let them hide the Heart, right? Right? You shared your light with her and everything!)

“We will not be intimidated!” A ragged cheer. “We will not be their pawns!” A louder cheer. “We will take the Heart into our own hands!” This cheer makes the tiles ring.

Rhyza clasps you tight. “Ignore them,” she says, and she makes it sound just a little bit like a command(!!!), but she looks a little uncertain herself. This looks like it could blow up into something nasty at any second. Aren’t you due one nice date?

Spoiler: Concerned Citizens

Show

Civilians! Damaging the Citizens will make you and all your friends unwelcome in the Bazaar ever again.

Panicky! The Citizens will mob and (almost entirely non-violently) overthrow anything they blame for the Bazaar’s current troubles. Talking Sense will not work, but you can roll +Blood to attempt to channel that anxiety in a different direction.

On a 10+, they’re now blaming whatever you want them to, and will act accordingly. On a 7-9, they change what they blame, but I get to tell you what they now fear. On a 6-, you’re the new target.

**Thanqol** · 2019-07-18, 12:08 AM (ISO 8601)

Princess Adila knew she was being baited. Do it! Take the rematch! You're way better than you were back then, you can take her! The fierce, hurt pride of dragonfire ignites within her, bringing back a younger and more brash dragon. Her thoughts hesitate on the brink, fully formed but not expressed -

And then they snap shut along with her notebook. She turns away. There's an edge of smugness in her smile there. +Thank you for your co-operation, Princess Helya,+ thinks Princess Adila. +I will let you know if I have any further questions.+

She was sure to let Princess Helya know through sub-thoughts and body language that, as far as she was concerned, there was no reason to challenge her at this moment. She was already defeated. Princess Adila was going to finish her initial sweep in a leisurely manner and and book Princess Helya when she got around to it.

She believed it, too. She had a plan.

*

Princess Adila had a special affection for Princess Dandy because on the odd occasions she was seriously sick and wounded she'd taken time out of her busy life and travels to stop by and help nurse her back to health. She'd appreciated the chance to provide medical care to something as exotic as a Dragon, and having a Princess on hand to listen to some of her spiritual ideas. She had been extremely convincing and extremely kind and Adila hadn't twigged that during one of her visits she had been low-key doping her to keeping her off the force while she set up for a mass jailbreak of Bazaar livestock. The city had to go vegetarian for months afterwards. Despite being totally played, Princess Adila couldn't find herself holding a grudge and accepted Princess Dandy's help again the next time it was offered. She genuinely admired how Dandy could hold compassion and practicality in her head simultaneously without having to switch between the two.

Princess Hornet she had no such warm feelings towards. Princess Hornet was everything wrong with Princesses. She was just a straight up Problem to be managed. This opinion gave Princess Adila a rare clarity when dealing with Hornet; she had studied her moves and habits and verbal tic's and knew how to identify the 'I have an idea' smile before it fully formed. She paid Whisper Street a daily subscription for updates on the location, disposition and inventions of Princess Hornet like some people paid for newspapers.

*

So here was the thing. She could announce to all the other Princesses that Princess Helya had the Heart and that wouldn't help at all. If any of these girls got their hands on the Heart they'd just turn around and hold the Bazaar to their own ransom, or build it into some sort of doomsday device of their own or something. She'd just be inciting a free for all and that'd be chaos for the whole city even before they got the Heart...

She almost reached out a hand to slap the box out of Princess Hornet's hands before she caught herself - she'd take out an entire wall that way, and that was if the box didn't explode. So instead she thought +Stop!+ and then, in a move that was definitely off the plan, thought +Please don't turn that on, Princess Hornet? I'll -+ the worst kind of bomb threat negotiations were with people who didn't know or care if they were holding bombs. +I have already identified the thief but - but -+ her human face contorted into a smile that was fake even by her standards. +- I need your help for the next part. Won't you help. Me. Friend?+

[Talking sense with Wisdom: 7 ]

**PhoeKun** · 2019-07-18, 02:02 AM (ISO 8601)

Well... riptides. Thank you Jedad, for immediately reminding her that you are awful and will never allow her to have nice things. You can add this to the pile of things you owe Alina Cascade but will never bother to pay back because you'd literally rather let your snake-husband blow you up than admit she did you a favor. It's fine. She's very good at not holding grudges, and the best at being humble. So you just sit back and watch the show.

...But here's the problem. It is not under any circumstances proper princess behavior (and especially not beautiful princess behavior) to subdue an angry mob of citizens by beating them senseless. That sounds like Watch nonsense. Which is why, of course, she has to do something, because these poor scared people are going to get themselves hurt. And also, probably maybe, the Watch is innocent of this specific accusation. So her first temptation is to push them in the direction of the likeliest actually guilty party, but this is a bad idea because this 'Black Princess' is almost certainly an even worse end for a bunch of scared townspeople than the Watch could ever be. Also, if we could just take a moment here? The 'Black Princess' could be literally anyone and anything because, and this is the really important bit that makes it incredibly frustrating that literally everyone in the Bazaar is so blasé about this... deep breath now and shout it out for the people in the back: Illumina does not have a Black Princess! That title is nonsensical. The simple idea of it is completely and utterly ridiculous. So what in the name of Ourania's eye shadow did people actually mean by it?! Ahem. Anyway, not a good idea. It's just, the only other idea she has right now is kind of, in its own way, much much worse.

"I can't ignore them," she says with a barely repressed sigh, "I can't let them get hurt. I think we'll have to change our dinner plans slightly, but just hold on a moment and I'll teach you a little about the legend of Alina Cascade."

And she runs her fingers along Rhyza's cheek, and she very carefully undoes her veil. This would be better done with a face. Ideally also a costume change, but... no time. She touches her neck, and her crown pops into her hand fully formed and glowing eagerly. Excited to be back, are we? Well then, make the most of it, my lovelies. She sets it on her head, takes a deep breath, and hops out of Rhyza's arms in one motion before hopping onto another wagon right next to the instigator's in one more motion. She strikes a confident pose and flashes the most dazzling and cocksure smile these probably have ever seen. Her teeth glitter like nobody's business, while her hair does its best enactment of her family name in a dramatically appropriate desert breeze. She clears her throat.

"Um, excuse me? Couldn't help overhearing your little meeting over here. Do you really think the Watch is capable of pulling off a scheme like that? Puh-leaze! Like, this is really embarrassing to look at, and I'm getting very bored waiting for somebody to figure it out. You wanna save the Bazaar? Then try catching me! I am the Princess Alina Cascade, and I am here to officially claim responsibility for the theft of the Heart of Jedad! Come and take it from me, if you can! But mark my words, I'll be leaving here on the grandest of ships loaded with the wealth of Jedad and the hand of the Princess Shazari, and not a treasure less! Hahahahahaha!"

First of all it must be said that Alina's villain laugh is extremely good. It hits just the right level of mockery and sinful mirth, while still also being bright and beautiful and making you feel like it's kind of a shame you don't get to hear more of it. She's had a lot of practice at it, being Elsaria the Dread and all. Second, it must also be said that this was a terrible and unreasonably scary idea, actually now that she's thinking about it, because a glance into this mixed-heritage crowd is plenty to show her that they bought the line in full, realize they've got her surrounded, and collectively they're actually very sure they can just jump her right now and end all of their troubles in a swift display of the virtues of Mob Justice. Uh oh.

Luckily, nobody ever seems to count on Alina's best friend. No, not Rita. Though while we're on that topic wherever she is I hope she's having the time of her life, because she is a sweetheart and the Slaugh incident was very scary for her too and she deserves to just be happy. Whoops, shoot. Getting distracted. Alina has to hop off of her wagon, plant her foot on a nearby wall, and kickflip her way back down to street level to avoid a sudden tackle. No no, her other best friend: Grappling Hook! But first: one new trick. Her shining red ribbons wrap themselves around her arms again and she effortlessly lifts Rhyza off her feet, taking one half second to smile sweet as she can at the reversal of fortune, then tosses her up into the air. With a little mocking wave to the crowd she follows quickly up and after on a beam of orange light. She snags Rhyza out of the air and swings along just out of grabbing distance. Up, down! Catch, release! She flies and laughs and changes colors along the way, just to show off as she makes her way to a more crowded corner full of stalls and, more importantly, alleyways for her to get lost in, watching everyone in the crowd scream 'there she is!' and run after her as best she can.

And, like this, she could lose them almost effortlessly. This juggling act is a little harder than it would be with her Yellow still about, but she's more than up to the task. But if she pushed right on to the House of Hospitality (the real one, obviously, not the one with the name), that would mean no dinner with Rhyza. No more date until work was all over. And nobody who's been worked over by a rope snake and made to hide in a pickle barrel should ever have to make a sacrifice like that. And she's got plenty of other skills she needs to show off right now anyway. So she slips into the relative shadows and she leads her much taller, um, let's go with 'friend', around by the hand. Tossing stray bits of trash for a distraction and zipping across the street while a furious crowd fans out and stalks her. The tension in the air is thick. One false move and it's over in the most humiliating way possible. I mean, it's one thing to get caught off guard by the King of the Bazaar, but the Uncatchable Alina Cascade taken in by a bunch of commoners? Dear sweet lights. She might as well give up her crown right then. Speaking of which, she reluctantly picks it back off her head and folds it back into a necklace, because it was doing more harm than good out there like that.

The dance continues. From one shop, she lifts some silk scarves which she expertly ties and twists around herself, adding splashes of different colors to her outfit and changing the way she looks subtly enough to at least make somebody double take before resuming chase. From another shop she sneaks a lighter veil, still blue (we do not fail at color matching, even under the most dire of circumstances) but much less opaque so that it carries no associations with what people remember. From a third shop, some dyes. Briefly she hovered a hand over the black because, ooh, wouldn't that look interesting? But she smiles to herself and snatches blue instead, because something tells her Rhyza would enjoy that more. And you have never seen anybody perform a rapid makeover with their hair until you've seen an Illuminan princess work with a proper dye. Her flowing, lovely, perfectly and enchantedly straight hair turns a shade of deep ocean color so smoothly you'd hardly think she'd broken stride. Finally she tucks away her hoops and hides her serpent tear under a sash she wears around her belly. There. Heraldry hidden, outfit altered but not ruined, look changed. She's a different person. Again.

But still, people are prowling. It's not safe to walk openly. She ducks into the first bar she can find, without consideration for decor, location, or even food type, finds a table and sits herself at it before anybody can ask her about it or tell her otherwise. She flashes a pretty smile at Rhyza and motions with one dainty hand for her to join her.

"So?"

[Well, we can all guess how that first roll went, but the Get Away after was a 13. Alina brings Rhyza with her, and is unseen, or whatever the official parlance is]

**Anarion** · 2019-07-18, 01:43 PM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by Raz_Fox

Kazelia!

The garden is cool in the heat of the day. Noise from other parts of the house seems muffled, quiet. Over on the other side of the garden, some sort of construction is being finished— it looks like a set of stairs? But it’s hard to make out from the thick of the flowering vines where Tashanna’s leading you.

“I don’t mean to pry,” she says, her fingers around yours, and she doesn’t pull away from your cold. “But you told us one of your sisters was here, and you sounded... worried.” And not just about that, she does not say, loudly. You make jokes about your family that have pain inside them. “Your father has been selling us ice and trying to find common ground. Is there something else that you’re worried about?”

And the way she says that—

She really wants to know!

Not just because it’s important to what’s going on, because it is, but because she can tell you’ve got a lot of hurt all knotted up inside and wants to help you. And I think somebody treating you like this...

This is alien. This is unprecedented. Your new friends might do it, but she just met you and is already concerned for your well-being.

Do you tell her anything? Do you connect, or do you pull away? Either way, you’re going to end up by the stairs in a moment, and then other things may happen, but right now, in this moment, you can, if you choose, voice things that have been long in the dark inside you. Or you can armor yourself in ice; you may let the moment pass.

Kazelia lets out a breath. "I...truth be told, I'm worried about two things. I believe Oberon is deceiving you all. My sisters are cruel and vicious. If they're here it's to spy, steal, or sow chaos no matter what pretenses they put up. And Oberon made them that way, he manipulates us, controls us, and ultimately destroys every place he goes. We're not from Hyperborea, and rich as this place is, if Oberon stays long enough, he will take everything for himself and leave the rest frozen and dead. I do not mean that as exaggeration." She shivers despite the heat and Tashanna's warm hand.

And then lets out another breath because, as worried as she is about Oberon, she has another worry closer to mind and she's willing to confide here. "I'm also worried about Adila. She wants everyone to live up to her codes and standards and the best values of the Watch. I offered to be her deputy and everything and I'm doing my best to live up to her codes. But I'm afraid she wants something she can't have, that I can't live up to her expectations, that she herself can't live up to her expectations and she isn't willing to face that. I feel like I'm being unfair to her."

Kazelia looks at the ground, trying to gather her thoughts, more than a little ashamed that she was so free with all her troubles, but also feeling unburdened all the same. Tashanna felt trustworthy and there was a part of her that so desperately wanted to be open, to break out of the way all the Riders kept secrets and lied constantly.

**Raz_Fox** · 2019-07-18, 05:18 PM (ISO 8601)

Adila!

Hornet’s designer goggles (with all kinds of gears and dials and lenses, because she’s the one in charge of them) betray no emotion. Her face is impassive, looking up at you. But she (VERY CAREFULLY) puts down the box and unrolls a piece of paper from a little brass tube on her belt. She spreads it out on top of the box, and then uses a pen attachment on her work gloves to fill in several blanks before handing it to you, the ink still wet.

“I, PRINCESS ADILA, do hereby declare that I am Princess Hornet’s friend, and furthermore that I am any other synonym she would wish to use to describe our relationship, e.g. buddy, pal, or partner. I further understand that this may blossom into (friendship)/love/(mutual admiration)/scientific rivalry/((((Best Friend status)))). I understand that this is admissible as evidence in a court of Goblin Law, even if stolen or mislaid. I vouchsafe that the above is fully true to the best of my knowledge, so help me Ourania.

Signed, __________________________.”

She stares up at you, wordlessly, and waits for you to sign, buddy.

Helya politely coughs and averts her eyes, but don’t be fooled; she’s a coiled spring. It’s just that she’s just— just— confident enough not to run. Your egos are dueling furiously, and I’m surprised that there’s room in here for Hornet and Dandy.

“You’ve grown,” Dandy says, breezily, looking up at you with her fingers intertwined behind her back. “The light in your heart’s new.” See? See what I mean? She knows at a glance it’s a light from your heart, but doesn’t connect it to the other princess known to have magical lights. At least, out loud. She’s got layers. Like an onion.

***

Kazelia!

“Oh, come here.” Tashanna is actually a very good hugger. She pats the back of your head, doing her best to let you know that she cares about you, even though, again, you’ve only just met!

“I promise you that Hyperborea is strong,” she says, soothingly. “No matter how wicked your father might be, Ourania won’t allow him to destroy us, and there’s no heart that we can’t thaw.” She’s so naive! Or hopeful. Or maybe she just needs to meet your father to truly understand. But still... isn’t it nice to hope, for a moment, that she’s right?

“Now, Adila, we can do something about. Tell me a little more about her expectations.” She gently guides you towards a stone bench, and offers you a gauzy little silk handkerchief, just in case those starry eyes are starting to tear up. “There’s no misunderstanding between friends that can’t be overcome.”

And she means it!

***

Alina!

Here’s the thing. The thing that elevates this chase to absolutely magical. The thing is that nowhere, in that whole audacious plan, does Rhyza second-guess you. On the contrary: she’s moving alongside you like a seasoned pro.

(Okay. Maybe you did startle her when you picked her up and tossed her. Maybe you’ll cherish the memory of the look on her face as you tossed her upwards, like she was utterly dumbfounded that this could be happening at all. But then she rolled with it.)

It’s almost like you’re back in Ilumina, with a knightly bodyguard by your side; you’re in sync, knocking over boxes, scattering trash, giving each other a hand, and she’s willing to let you take the lead in this dance. She’s seen you talk your way out of being captured by the King of the Bazaar and take responsibility for what’s wrong just to defuse a riot; she trusts you. After all, didn’t you promise to keep her safe?

When you’re changing your outfit, assuming a slight disguise, whenever you would catch yourself wishing you had an extra pair of hands, Rhyza’s there with hers. When you grapple up a wall and run along it to get air to jump all the way across a street, Rhyza’s running with you and helping you build momentum. When you get yourself seated, Rhyza’s sitting down and waving over the waiter for her order.

Then she freezes, like a snake facing a mongoose, and though her face is still confident, you see a single drop of sweat slip down from her forehead down beneath her veil.

“Hello, Rhyza,” your server says, with playfulness in her voice. “Long time no see. And... this is Megathe?”

“...no,” Rhyza admits.

“Oh!” She stops and giggles. Your read on the situation is “amicable exes,” thank goodness. Her name tag reads... Alina???

You actually focus on what her uniform is. It’s a version of a dress you haven’t worn in years; you had to leave it behind in your doubtless now frozen walk-in closet. Except your dress actually had a midriff. And didn’t have those heels. And you wore at least 20% less makeup and oh Ourania this is an “Iluminan” bar.

“Alina” isn’t even Iluminan! Those lavender curls are a total dye job! And those musicians are playing the most wrong version of “Dance Between the Raindrops” you’ve ever heard!

But any port in a storm, right? You have earned a date at this point, and you can handle having Rhyza’s ex give you knowing winks and nudges. But Rhyza, on the other hand, has totally frozen up out of embarrassment. Want to save her day again?

**Thanqol** · 2019-07-18, 05:42 PM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by Raz_Fox

Adila!

Hornet’s designer goggles (with all kinds of gears and dials and lenses, because she’s the one in charge of them) betray no emotion. Her face is impassive, looking up at you. But she (VERY CAREFULLY) puts down the box and unrolls a piece of paper from a little brass tube on her belt. She spreads it out on top of the box, and then uses a pen attachment on her work gloves to fill in several blanks before handing it to you, the ink still wet.

“I, PRINCESS ADILA, do hereby declare that I am Princess Hornet’s friend, and furthermore that I am any other synonym she would wish to use to describe our relationship, e.g. buddy, pal, or partner. I further understand that this may blossom into (friendship)/love/(mutual admiration)/scientific rivalry/((((Best Friend status)))). I understand that this is admissible as evidence in a court of Goblin Law, even if stolen or mislaid. I vouchsafe that the above is fully true to the best of my knowledge, so help me Ourania.

Signed, __________________________.”

She stares up at you, wordlessly, and waits for you to sign, buddy.

Helya politely coughs and averts her eyes, but don’t be fooled; she’s a coiled spring. It’s just that she’s just— just— confident enough not to run. Your egos are dueling furiously, and I’m surprised that there’s room in here for Hornet and Dandy.

“You’ve grown,” Dandy says, breezily, looking up at you with her fingers intertwined behind her back. “The light in your heart’s new.” See? See what I mean? She knows at a glance it’s a light from your heart, but doesn’t connect it to the other princess known to have magical lights. At least, out loud. She’s got layers. Like an onion.

***

Princess Adila learned something about herself that day. She learned that her rivalry with Princess Helya was more powerful than her irritation with Princess Hornet - and she must be prouder than she thought she was because she really didn't want to sign that paper. O-or maybe it wasn't personal pride, maybe it was just diligence when it came to preventing explosions or dedication to saving the city. Or maybe she'd be a good influence on Princess Hornet! This was what a good Watcher would do probably and even though there wasn't a chapter in the Operations Manual authorizing friendship contracts with megacriminals Chapter 15 implied that wartime allies should be exempted from ordinary duty and regulation standards and that was basically the same thing.

She signed. Her signature was super ugly. Adila had terrible handwriting. She glanced sideways at Princess Helya to make sure she hadn't noticed. Okay, maybe she wasn't one hundred percent motivated by professionalism here. She started gently steering the conversation away from Helya, trusting that she had needled the Horse Princess enough to make her wait and see what her scheme was.

+Nice to see you too, Princess Dandy,+ said Adila, showing off a little sparkling silver rainbow with her light. +It's been amazing to have. I feel like I understand what you were saying about the leylines and worldroots much better now - and I'm sorry for being dismissive. How have you been?+

**PhoeKun** · 2019-07-18, 11:54 PM (ISO 8601)

Ourania on her throne, is this for real? She'd heard about these places, obviously, but just as obviously she's never actually been in one before. It's like seeing her home again, but only through a sketch drawn by an untalented artist with one eye going off somebody's summation of a summation of a summation of an encyclopedia entry of Illumina. And the artist was hearing that description through a bendy straw on the other side of a wall. Is that really supposed to be her?? Lights through glass, she wants to just sink through the floor right now. She wants to complain to management. She wants to sink through the floor while complaining to management!

Or! Instead of that, Alina (who, in her opinion, still looks more 'Alina' than this other girl despite the great lengths she's gone through not to) giggles herself silly and reaches across the table to squeeze Rhyza's hand. This is Nice. This is a Nice Date. Isn't it lovely? Isn't she? Aren't they a darling couple, Ms. Amicable Ex? She offers "Alina" her charmingest smile, with hardly any teeth clenching involved. Here, Rhyza. This is Princess Diplomacy 101:

"Rinley," she introduces herself with a polite nod and very understanding eyes, "It's a pleasure. And may I say I just love your outfit? I wish I had something like it waiting for me in my closet back home."

That part's true, actually. She misses the dress that costume's based on terribly, alone with the entire rest of her wardrobe. In the moments where she can manage to think about her home, her castle, and her old room without getting caught up in misery about what she lost or anxiety about her mother and sisters, she spends a lot of time praying to every power and guardian she can imagine that nothing's happened to those dresses and outfits that's worse than having them be frozen and forgotten. Please, don't let them have been fed to those weird horses. Please don't let them have been fed to Morgina. Or... or worn by... anybody at all. Urgh, it was such a mistake to wear her silks to Askaia. They got completely ruined by that horrid, evil muck and now unless she can find a proper Illuminan seamstress hidden away somewhere in Feloria or something she's never going to have things that pretty for the rest of her crusade against Oberon.

Wait, hey stop that, if you turn this into a mope session you are a bad girl who is not going to get kisses from a beautiful warrior, or pats on the head, or hear that same brave knight's voice ask her who her queen is. Alina busies herself with pleasant small talk about decor and dating while she glances at the menu. There's no way any of this is fresh, right? These dishes are meant to be done with river fish, and since when has Jedad known anything about a river? River of spice and sin, maybe, but--

"Ooh! Rhyza look, they have rainbow-salted bass with lemongrass! I haven't eaten that since I was a little girl! Oh, do you do lotus-infused water too? That would be lovely!"

She hasn't had it in that long a time because it's a low-grade tourist meal with what most Illuminans consider a gimmick flavor profile and minimal artistry. But it's also the first thing Rita ate with her when their parents finally considered them old enough to wander (mostly) unsupervised on play dates, and sometimes nostalgia is the best spice of all. Plus, just going on a limb here, but Rhyza almost definitely in the "falls for low-grade tourist food" category of Illuminan connoisseurs. The thought makes Alina smile so sweetly that, for one brief moment at the least, nothing could be wrong in the entire world.

**Anarion** · 2019-07-19, 12:38 AM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by Raz_Fox

Kazelia!

“Oh, come here.” Tashanna is actually a very good hugger. She pats the back of your head, doing her best to let you know that she cares about you, even though, again, you’ve only just met!

“I promise you that Hyperborea is strong,” she says, soothingly. “No matter how wicked your father might be, Ourania won’t allow him to destroy us, and there’s no heart that we can’t thaw.” She’s so naive! Or hopeful. Or maybe she just needs to meet your father to truly understand. But still... isn’t it nice to hope, for a moment, that she’s right?

“Now, Adila, we can do something about. Tell me a little more about her expectations.” She gently guides you towards a stone bench, and offers you a gauzy little silk handkerchief, just in case those starry eyes are starting to tear up. “There’s no misunderstanding between friends that can’t be overcome.”

And she means it!

"I don't believe that promise, but it's lovely that you'd say that and I hope I'm wrong and you're right." Kazelia sighs, but takes the handkerchief and tucks it away in her other silks. "As for Adila, she...I mean, you know her I'm sure, she wants to be the best member of the Watch ever, and she wants everyone else to follow their codes. She was so mad at me for slapping Shazari's handmaiden." Kazelia smiles at that memory despite herself, it had felt very good. "And I certainly appreciate that I should not cause a diplomatic incident, especially while deputized by the Watch. But she didn't even think about leaving me with them or pay attention to my warning. And when things didn't go that well for me, then and earlier, I felt like she was so disappointed, like, she doesn't understand that people have different strengths and doesn't trust me because I don't naturally do things her way."

Kazelia stops, looks at Tashanna for a moment. Part of her brain is going why am I saying all these things, this is probably Ninian, but it also feels really good to share all this stuff that's burdening her. And so what if it is Ninian, it's not like it's a secret that Adila's really into the Watch, everyone in Jedad knows that. "I'm good at fighting and magic and I want to protect my friends, and it's like, I'm trying so hard not to follow my heart because that's what Adila wants and I don't want to disappoint her anymore. I just, I don't know what I should do."

Okay, yes that's a handkerchief moment, a little emotionally overwhelming. "I just, I think Adila doesn't want to embrace herself either, that's why she wants everyone around her to follow the Watch code and act like her, it makes her feel like she's a normal person. I think that's what she really wants: to just be a regular Guard and not have to be a dragon that scares people. She's nice and good and bought me a guitar and I want her to be happy, but I just don't know if I can constantly ignore my own strengths and feelings." Kazelia wipes her eyes with the handkerchief again and looks down at the sand blowing over the stones of the path. The warm Jedad wind feels good out here, her loose silks are comfortable, and Tashanna has been such a good listener. She wished it were possible to relate to more people this way, that all the Riders could actually support each other.

**Raz_Fox** · 2019-07-19, 01:45 AM (ISO 8601)

Adila!

“Shouldn’t complain,” Dandy says. Oh dear. It’s been that bad, has it? In Dandy Speak, shouldn’t complain means that she would very much like to. You’ve heard rumors about unseasonal storms hitting Feloria and messing up their harvest season, and the shadow that passes over Dandy’s face suggests that the reality of things on the ground is worse than you thought.

Under normal circumstances, Carnival is a way for princesses to blow off steam. When the weather has been so ill-omened... small wonder they need that release valve more.

“You should grow more,” Hornet says, with complete insensitivity. “I need my ground bean morning juice.”

“We’re doing our best,” Dandy says, in a breezy way that suggests she is meditating on the image of her desire, which is tossing Hornet out a window. Then, abruptly jumping topics, she adds, “You’re here to catch Alina, aren’t you? I don’t think you can.” Wow! Okay, even if Alina hadn’t decided to join you, you probably could have caught her easily, right?

“Aha!” Hornet grins, rubbing her dirty little paws together in a very troubling way. “Buddy, I have got to show you my design for an Exceedingly Efficient Princess-Catching Eagle!” Hornet no

***

Kazelia!

“When I was a little girl,” Tashanna says, guiding you to sit down on a stone bench backed by a huge, flowering bush studded with blue-and-purple flowers, “I had the coolest big sister ever. She was so smart, and good at fighting, and pretty, and everyone expected me to be like her, and when I wasn’t, they just...” Her voice trails off, and she lets you imagine an adorable young girl, ignored while everyone praises her older sister. If this is Ninian, maybe she’s speaking from the heart; you and Azora were always Dad’s favorites. “And for a while, I thought that there meant there was something wrong with me.”

She interlaces her fingers, looking down at her hands, one arm hooked around yours. “Then I met someone who... made me feel like I was special. Like, given the choice between looking at Shazari and looking at me, she’d happily look at me. She wanted to know what I liked, what I wanted to do, what I wanted to do with her...”

Her face is sad for a moment; she’s lost in thoughts of somebody she lost. It’s a gentler sort than the vague, jumbled memories of your victims on other worlds, but the melancholy is the same. “Anyway. After I met her, I started figuring out how I was special. I looked at how to be me in the best way I could be. Like the me she saw. And now everybody knows me and what I do, and though everybody still thinks my sister’s the best, they notice me. They respect what I can do.”

She looks up at you, and through the pain of those memories... void and ash, she smiles anyway. “I know what it’s like to not know how to fit in. To feel like you have to be somebody else, that nobody will value the person that you are. But that’s wrong! You are the only person in the whole world who can be you. So don’t stop taking lessons from Adila, look for ways to improve, but please remember that you’re not Adila. You’re Kazelia.”

She reaches over and squeezes your knee reassuringly. “Though if you’d prefer, I’ll call you Deputy Kazelia.”

She sits with you for as long as you need.

***

Rhyza!

Oh, thank the Clockmaker, your little princess has taken charge. You can’t believe you just walked in with a new flame! It feels like just yesterday “Alina” was the one sitting across from you.

Love them fast, love them hard, and leave them wistful. That’s the way of the desert. But still, you have the feelings of both of the Alinas here to consider and—

Oh, no. Oh no. “Alina” is leaning in to whisper something into “Rinley’s” ear. Oh no they’re giggling. This is unfair and, if she lets you, you will be making “Rinley” rue it later in the best sort of way.

At least the food’s been ordered. Alina probably knows what she’s about, right? Probably ordered only the best of her kingdom’s cuisine.

“I’ll handle the bill,” you say, trying to reassert yourself by rubbing your foot up the slit in her trousers, and watching her face behind that quite fetching veil. “After all, I know you have important things to spend your money on, Rinley.” Sure, you may be mostly broke, but it’s the least you can do for the princess, and you’re confident you can hide the state of your wallet when the bill comes to avoid embarrassing her.

“Now, I want to know... what do you think of that Iluminan princess?” Ohohoho this is revenge. Sweet, sweet revenge. “Doesn’t her dress look beautiful? If she wasn’t a wicked scourge of all Jedad, I’d love to help her out of it. We wouldn’t want it to get dirty, after all.”

hahahahaha

“And then... I’d teach her how Jedad felt when her nation made us all dancing-girls and glass-makers for their kingdom. It would be tough to pack a whole era’s worth of humiliation and exploitation into one night, but I think I could manage it. What do you think about that, my darling Rinley~?”

**Thanqol** · 2019-07-19, 03:34 AM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by Raz_Fox

Adila!

“Shouldn’t complain,” Dandy says. Oh dear. It’s been that bad, has it? In Dandy Speak, shouldn’t complain means that she would very much like to. You’ve heard rumors about unseasonal storms hitting Feloria and messing up their harvest season, and the shadow that passes over Dandy’s face suggests that the reality of things on the ground is worse than you thought.

Under normal circumstances, Carnival is a way for princesses to blow off steam. When the weather has been so ill-omened... small wonder they need that release valve more.

“You should grow more,” Hornet says, with complete insensitivity. “I need my ground bean morning juice.”

“We’re doing our best,” Dandy says, in a breezy way that suggests she is meditating on the image of her desire, which is tossing Hornet out a window. Then, abruptly jumping topics, she adds, “You’re here to catch Alina, aren’t you? I don’t think you can.” Wow! Okay, even if Alina hadn’t decided to join you, you probably could have caught her easily, right?

“Aha!” Hornet grins, rubbing her dirty little paws together in a very troubling way. “Buddy, I have got to show you my design for an Exceedingly Efficient Princess-Catching Eagle!” Hornet no

***

+I,+ thought Princess Adila smugly, +already caught Princess Alina, months ago. She's out on bail but trust me, she'll do her time.+

That was technically correct, which was the best kind of correct. She breezed over the parts where Princess Alina talked her into rescuing her Kingdom, or the bit where the bail was 'Princess Adila's continued assistance when it comes to rescuing Illumina'. Bringing up those bits would just be bad storytelling. And also she totally could have caught her easily and she's probably not just thinking that because Helya's around.

She was also like 99% confident that Illumina was, in fact, in trouble and this wasn't just the next step in Princess Alina's increasingly complicated schemes to steal the royal jewels.

She was troubled to hear about Feloria. Moving there was actually her secret backup plan for wh - if she had to leave the Bazaar for good. She liked Princess Dandy, the people there were supposed to be very accepting, and it wasn't like falling down in a potato field was going to wreck anything. She didn't really want to be a farmer... like, at all, but maybe it wouldn't be so bad? She gave a sympathetic expression and thought sympathetic thoughts at Dandy but didn't want to push her, especially in front of Hornet. Instead she tried to get the conversation back on track.

+I did mean to ask, though. What did you mean by not being able to catch Alina? Is this to do with the Black Princess? There's a shapeshifter on the loose and I'm having difficulty piecing all of these rumours together.+

**Anarion** · 2019-07-19, 10:58 AM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by Raz_Fox

Kazelia!

“When I was a little girl,” Tashanna says, guiding you to sit down on a stone bench backed by a huge, flowering bush studded with blue-and-purple flowers, “I had the coolest big sister ever. She was so smart, and good at fighting, and pretty, and everyone expected me to be like her, and when I wasn’t, they just...” Her voice trails off, and she lets you imagine an adorable young girl, ignored while everyone praises her older sister. If this is Ninian, maybe she’s speaking from the heart; you and Azora were always Dad’s favorites. “And for a while, I thought that there meant there was something wrong with me.”

She interlaces her fingers, looking down at her hands, one arm hooked around yours. “Then I met someone who... made me feel like I was special. Like, given the choice between looking at Shazari and looking at me, she’d happily look at me. She wanted to know what I liked, what I wanted to do, what I wanted to do with her...”

Her face is sad for a moment; she’s lost in thoughts of somebody she lost. It’s a gentler sort than the vague, jumbled memories of your victims on other worlds, but the melancholy is the same. “Anyway. After I met her, I started figuring out how I was special. I looked at how to be me in the best way I could be. Like the me she saw. And now everybody knows me and what I do, and though everybody still thinks my sister’s the best, they notice me. They respect what I can do.”

She looks up at you, and through the pain of those memories... void and ash, she smiles anyway. “I know what it’s like to not know how to fit in. To feel like you have to be somebody else, that nobody will value the person that you are. But that’s wrong! You are the only person in the whole world who can be you. So don’t stop taking lessons from Adila, look for ways to improve, but please remember that you’re not Adila. You’re Kazelia.”

She reaches over and squeezes your knee reassuringly. “Though if you’d prefer, I’ll call you Deputy Kazelia.”

She sits with you for as long as you need.

Tashanna is a wonderful person. She is making Kazelia feel good in a way that has only been matched by Alina and the way she just lights up the world. It is, it is people like this that she wants to protect, wants to make Hyperborea safe for. Oberon can't have them. And if there's one way to make Oberon's true colors shows, it's to tell him that he can't have what he wants. Kazelia smiles at that thought, and sits with Tashanna in silence for a moment. She'd figure out what to do about her relationship with Adila, she still wanted to be a deputy while she was here, maybe even keep some of the good principles after, but she needed Adila to acknowledge her way of doing things too, and she'd have to figure out what that meant. "Maybe in front of Adila" she finally says, "I'm sure she'll appreciate you keeping the Watch titles appropriately in mind." She only very, very briefly sticks out her tongue when she says that, past those sharp Rider teeth.

"I should also ask you about all this other business though. I didn't think Illumina had a black princess and I don't understand who would have stolen the heart or how all these things are connected. Do you know anything about it? I do think I could help, and I want to very much."

**PhoeKun** · 2019-07-19, 04:03 PM (ISO 8601)

Oh no. Oh no no no, she's picturing it. She's imagining it! The room, lit by candlelight and the softest rays of sun sneaking through silk curtains. The smell of incense and perfumes mingling with sweat. There's lily petals scattered on the bed and a tray of sweet fruits off to the side somewhere, being ignored. And there's her. Alina Cascade, not wearing a disguise or a borrowed outfit, resplendent in her colorful silk dress that drapes over her body just so, that swishes and sways and twirls with her and makes every inch of her the perfect princess. With her crown on her head and her lavender curls that put any dye job to shame, with her face flushed and enchanted by what she sees. Rhyza, freed from her armor and her golden honors, nothing hiding those alluring muscles but a simple shirt. Her hair like literal fire on her head and her lips so feral but so inviting as she reaches across the space between them and gently, teasingly undoes Alina's dress, sliding her hand down--

"O-oh!" she squeaks as her leg shyly retreats from Rhyza's foot, "Um, well, um! If it's you... I-I'm sure she would feel very sorry by the time the night was over. You know. If she wasn't such a... um. 'Wicked scourge of all of Jedad', that is. I-isn't she supposed to be even worse than the Black Princess I'm not allowed to ask about? M-maybe... maybe she would make you want to be her dancer or a glass maker instead?"

Well. This is dangerous territory. Or it would be if she could have slipped that in there without squeaking and and blushing like a maiden seeing Queen Halcyon's shower room for the first time. Let's not mince words, Alina has not recovered her game face here. Not at all. She glances down at the table.

"B-besides, a princess like her might be a very slow learner. Your Rinley, on the other hand..."

Oh hey look the food's here! How about that?

**Raz_Fox** · 2019-07-19, 09:35 PM (ISO 8601)

Kazelia!

“Well,” she starts, and then frowns. “Oh dear. Friends? Oh. Oh no.” Your rope vipers have decided that they like Tashanna, too! And they may have secured her hand to your leg. And may be pulling her in close to you. This is not the right time or place, rope vipers! For one thing, she’s happily engaged! For another, she might be Ninian!

“Excuse me, darlings,” she says, as one slithers around her shoulders. “Terribly sorry, but I would very much like for you not to be doing this!” Can you imagine the scandal if someone comes and finds you like this?

On cue, the bushes on the other side of the path rustle ominously. Get those rope vipers under control before the two of you end up all trussed up together! Or, worse, before you are forced to meet one of the other princesses here! One way or another, you are Expected at the end of the path.

***

Adila!

“Oh, well done,” Dandy says. It’s difficult to say whether or not she believes you. When she gets an idea in her head— like, say, that you couldn’t possibly catch Alina Cascade— it tends to stick! Maybe she thinks that Alina’s a bail jumper. Or maybe she guessed the truth, somehow.

“I don’t think Alina is the Black Princess,” she continues. “That wouldn’t be like her, to disguise herself like that.” Says someone who never knew Elsaria the Dread! “She’s probably one of the Princess Adjutants. She attacks caravans, outposts, villages... shows no mercy. Leaves fear, and despair, and pain behind her.”

“Her pattern,” Hornet chimes in, “suggests a mixture of tactical considerations and strictly punitive concerns.” In short... it’s personal.

But that doesn’t leave you any closer to knowing who it really is! How frustrating. You’d probably need Alina’s help to dig deeper.

“Adila,” Helya adds, standing, ostensibly casual. “Won’t you stay for dinner? It’s been so long since any of us were arrested, after all. We’ve missed you.”

“We have,” Dandy says, taking your hand. She knows, a little, how difficult it is for you to guide your strength in this form, and is wordlessly offering to help guide you in a way that allows you to keep your pride.

***

Alina!

Rhyza shakes her head, retreating tactically from her assault on your beachhead. “I don’t dance,” she says, with a voice like melted chocolate drizzled over fresh fruits. She lets that hang in the air between you, and then adds, conspiratorially, “Except by special request.”

oh wow oh. that’s. wow. imagine Rhyza wearing a dancer’s outfit, taking all of that strength and commanding presence, handing you the other end of her scarf and HEY FOOD’S HERE!

They overspiced the bass, because they’re Jedadi and nothing can be right here, but this is the best meal, if only because you’re sharing it with someone who knows who you are and still likes you. Gosh. Wow.

[Take +1 Bond with Rhyza, who has the stats Loyal Sellsword and Hotter Than Jedad.]

By the time you’re finished, it’s evening. The hue and cry is still raised, but it’s more muted, intermingled with the excitement of Carnival looming over everyone’s heads. Soon. Soon, the tension will break, one way or another.

Rhyza insists on paying, but she’s a little sloppy when it comes to her efforts to hide her purse, and it’s hard not to notice that it’s, uh, pretty tight. And here you are with treasures from Ilumina hiding up your sleeves. I’m not saying anything, I’m just letting you stew over it.

Anyway. I think it’s time that someone got ready to go perform the dance of her life, no?

**Anarion** · 2019-07-20, 02:42 AM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by Raz_Fox

Kazelia!

“Well,” she starts, and then frowns. “Oh dear. Friends? Oh. Oh no.” Your rope vipers have decided that they like Tashanna, too! And they may have secured her hand to your leg. And may be pulling her in close to you. This is not the right time or place, rope vipers! For one thing, she’s happily engaged! For another, she might be Ninian!

“Excuse me, darlings,” she says, as one slithers around her shoulders. “Terribly sorry, but I would very much like for you not to be doing this!” Can you imagine the scandal if someone comes and finds you like this?

On cue, the bushes on the other side of the path rustle ominously. Get those rope vipers under control before the two of you end up all trussed up together! Or, worse, before you are forced to meet one of the other princesses here! One way or another, you are Expected at the end of the path.

"Oh, no, I, I'm so sorry. No, snakes, I didn't mean her, please don't." Kazelia flushes. Of course, she had promised the rope vipers that they'd get the chance to wrap up someone new and Tashanna would be the first person she had gotten close to since leaving the fortress. But she had meant to find her sister or the Black Princess maybe. Fake Oberon had just walked out on her, it had seemed so likely he/she would be around still! This was not at all what she had in mind.

"No, snake friends, stay with me please, Tashanna doesn't want to be all wrapped up right now. I promise I'll make it up to you very soon, I'm sure that both of us could...um...I mean, if Tashanna wanted to, I'm sure she could help make it up to you too."

[I tried to talk sense to the vipers, but the dice say that even with Kazelia's good stat, the result is a 5]

**PhoeKun** · 2019-07-20, 02:50 AM (ISO 8601)

"So what did you think?"

Alina sighs contentedly and snuggles up close to Rhyza while they walk in the evening air. Jedad is always much nicer at this time of day. The sunsets are flawless and the cooling air takes away some of the nastier edge of its cities, almost like it's thanking you for sticking it out for so long. Which is only polite, most any Illuminan worth anything would ditch a Jedadi day faster than a river-child in a debate. But this time especially, it felt worth it. This is the second time. The second time she's come to this kingdom and found somebody special. She leans her cheek against that special arm.

It's not fair, you know. Somebody like Rhyza should have a purse filled to bursting with coins. Maybe she has expensive tastes and spends freely to impress her dates. That sounds like her, hee. But even still, a woman this talented should be paid enough to maintain those tastes and still have a purse full of money. Somebody's not paying her well enough, Shazari. Don't even try to tell her you don't have the money. Don't even...

Unfortunately, it's time for this to stop. Unfortunately, Alina has important and incredibly embarrassing work to do. Into the House, to mingle with princesses and sniff out any fakes or traitors among them without letting them know it's her. At least she's good at dancing. And tonight, she's got some really excellent inspiration. Tell her that the move's too hard, King's Knights. You just tell her. Nothing's impossible for Alina Cascade. Slowly and carefully, she undoes the trappings of her secondary disguise and reassembles her dancing outfit until she's just the way they left her. Well, just the way they left her but with blue hair. That one's slightly less simple. Ok, time to go to work...

...It's not fair. It's not. She looks up at Rhyza with her eyes shining in the setting sun. And she smiles.

"Stay with me, please. I still need my bodyguard, and I couldn't find anyone to match you if I spent all night searching the Bazaar. This isn't much at all; you're worth much more than this. But even so, I'd like for you to have it, to use however you'd like."

Alina is broke, but only by Princess standards. She presses her palm against Rhyza's, and when she pulls it away there's a very pretty ring sitting in the mercenary's hand. The band is finely wrought silver with engravings like entwined flower stems. Where those engravings meet at the top of the band sit seven tiny glass flower petals, each stained in one color of the rainbow. Each shard is small, but it's the highest grade of Illuminan glass anywhere in the world, the kind that holds magic and color as if it came to Hyperborea for exactly that purpose. The kind that only a master craftswoman could shape without it cracking (or maybe possibly, don't look into this too hard, a King and a Mother). Truthfully, Alina has no idea what it's worth. But it's the most precious thing she has on her that she thinks Rhyza will accept.

[+1 Bond: "Rhyza Sussari likes me even though I'm Illuminan." Jewelry sacrificed, now at 0/2. +1 Bond: "Rhyza Sussari is worthy of my treasure and my affection."]

**Thanqol** · 2019-07-20, 04:31 AM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by Raz_Fox

Adila!

“Oh, well done,” Dandy says. It’s difficult to say whether or not she believes you. When she gets an idea in her head— like, say, that you couldn’t possibly catch Alina Cascade— it tends to stick! Maybe she thinks that Alina’s a bail jumper. Or maybe she guessed the truth, somehow.

“I don’t think Alina is the Black Princess,” she continues. “That wouldn’t be like her, to disguise herself like that.” Says someone who never knew Elsaria the Dread! “She’s probably one of the Princess Adjutants. She attacks caravans, outposts, villages... shows no mercy. Leaves fear, and despair, and pain behind her.”

“Her pattern,” Hornet chimes in, “suggests a mixture of tactical considerations and strictly punitive concerns.” In short... it’s personal.

But that doesn’t leave you any closer to knowing who it really is! How frustrating. You’d probably need Alina’s help to dig deeper.

“Adila,” Helya adds, standing, ostensibly casual. “Won’t you stay for dinner? It’s been so long since any of us were arrested, after all. We’ve missed you.”

“We have,” Dandy says, taking your hand. She knows, a little, how difficult it is for you to guide your strength in this form, and is wordlessly offering to help guide you in a way that allows you to keep your pride.

For a moment, Adila felt like the clocks had stopped. A tense but strangely friendly business dinner with the other Princesses. Dandy's kindness. Hornet's threatening helpfulness. Almost rising to the one of Helya's oh-so-polite baits it hasn't been that long since I arrested one of you, you smug rakefire! Her allies and enemies changed from meeting to meeting but there always seemed to be these moments when for a moment they all sat around the table for a little while and just acted like... friends. Before the spell finally broke and they were back to their selves again.

The feeling was so comforting she accidentally squeezed Dandy's hand a little bit, and then hurriedly withdrew it and apologized repeatedly when she saw her wince. Anyone else would have taken that as a sign to back off and not risk the fingers, but Dandy was the rare sort who took it as further evidence the job was necessary and doubled down. Princess Adila loved that about her.

The moment dampened the odd happiness that had filled her heart a little bit, but only a little. +Yes, I'd love dinner. I've missed you all too,+ she thought, and she really meant it.

**Raz_Fox** · 2019-07-20, 07:18 AM (ISO 8601)

Adila!

Let's take a moment to reflect, as you're ushered off with these three princesses: a thief, a friend, and your new legally binding friend. You're at the heart of a princess gemstone, glittering and bright, and each of the princesses here are the facets.

Tell us a little bit about the kitchen; the area blocked off in the dining room for the evening's entertainment; and what sort of good Jedadi comfort food is served at the House of Hospitality. Is this your first time here? I mean, surely not!

And while we’re at it... out of the three, which one do you envy the most?

***

Alina!

"I..." Rhyza looks utterly confounded when she looks down at the ring, worth a fortune, offered freely to a friend. Emotion wars across her face as she looks down at that ring, the pinnacle of Iluminan craftsmanship, worth more than she’d make in an entire campaign. "I can't accept this," she says, almost bowling you over with the force of her denial. "Alina!" Oh Ourania no don't use your name in public! It's no use, she doesn't care. "I've only known you for all of one day! You don't know me! I... I can't accept this! Save this for someone who knows how to settle down!"

Oh. Oh dear. Maybe saying "stay with me" and "you're worth much more than this" and giving her a ring after an entire day of flirting and making out and being prisoners together, um, maybe that was a little confusing. Maybe Iluminans already have a reputation for being hopeless romantics, which this isn't helping!

She presses the ring back into your hand, wrapping your fingers around it, and you see her overcome with the distress of having to turn down your "proposal."

"I'll follow you, Princess, and I'll make you happy as I can, if you allow me... but don't ask that of me. Please. I'm not worth it. I’ll just end up leaving you behind when the horizon calls my name again.”

***

Kazelia!

Well, this is distressing. The rope vipers seem quite content to migrate over entirely to Tashanna, trussing her up snugly the way only a rope viper can. She's doing her best to laugh it off, though it's got a little bit of a nervous edge to it. "Don't worry," she says, "I'm sure if you go get Helya-- hmph!"

And that's when the bushes are parted, leaving you to face someone looking as guilty as if you were one of your siblings. I mean, you've got to know how this looks, having the Jedadi princess all tied up and gagged while the two of you are alone, right? Luckily for you, you're about to meet the princess who wrote the book on this sort of thing.

Two foxes, each wearing a white-and-red mask and black lamellar, draw back the branches, and through them steps a woman wearing a mask in the same style, slung to the side of her head. She's hiding her face behind an apricot-blossom fan, and all that's visible peering over the brim is her pale orange hair, straight and sleek, and one gleaming, wickedly amused yellow eye.

"So," she purrs, "if it isn't the Rider Princess. Don't you know it's rude to keep your betters waiting? To think that I, an unsullied blossom plucked from the jaws of heaven, would be forced to descend to the rude earth to confront you. How foolish, to think that you could steal away the Jedadi princess, when she is already pledged to another! How brazen, how bold!"

In your periphery, you keep seeing little flashes of russet fur, angular ears and tails, but when you turn your head to look, they've already vacated the space. It's hard to tell how many there are. Five? Fifteen? Fifty? Whatever the numbers, you're outnumbered. The princess before you turns her head and starts talking to one of the foxes flanking her, like you can’t even hear her.

"How vulgar she is, don't you think? Like a wild animal that needs to be tamed. Did she think that her wickedness would go unchallenged? Looking at her, I see that all the rumors are true! She is ambitious, grasping, wanton and shameless in her use of witchcraft, presumptuous and arrogant, willing to ape the methods of her betters. You're quite right, such things cannot be ignored. And it is for these reasons..."

She snaps the fan shut, and the sound echoes off the trees like the sound of a whip. Her lips curl back from teeth that could give yours a run for their money, in a gleefully evil grin.

”That I shall make her my bride!!"

And that's when the sparklers and confetti cannons behind her go off, and her fox retainers dogpile you and Tashanna.

"We only have time for eight dates before the wedding," she monologues, as you struggle with a bunch of foxes doing their best to turn you into a cute, helpless little Rider package. Though, admittedly, this is probably the first time you've had a simultaneous makeover and binding, and-- oh my gosh that is the poofiest, prettiest wedding dress ever that they’re trying to work you into. "So just name the venue and, by all my grandmother's tails, I shall force you to partake in your heart's most indulgent desires! You may plead, you may beg, you may do your best to resist my seduction, my dearest Rider, but know that your surrender before me at the altar is inevitable! Mwahahahahahahahaha!!!"

***

PROFILE: Princess Kyouko of the Apricot Clan

One thousand years ago, the foxes of the Konkon Protectorate conquered over half of Hyperborea with a simple strategy: we are relentlessly pretty and winning in person, therefore, we will kidnap princesses and force them to go on romantic dates with us until they fall madly in love with us and agree to serve us as tributary states, mwahahaha! And it is testament to the seductive and irrepressible wiles of the foxes that far more princesses succumbed to marriage than bothered to even attempt escape. But their many brides still snuck out vital information to their home countries, and the Protectorate collapsed a generation later when would-be damsels started either bribing their ostensible kidnappers with fried tofu or using spray bottles to get them off the furniture.
The Konkon still have a somewhat formidable reputation, even as they simultaneously serve as ultimately harmless villains in many folk traditions. They’re who everyone’s expecting Oberon to turn out to be: lovably hammy, playfully wicked, willing to immediately let you go with a care package if you start actually crying for real (which, if you wanted to be uncharitable, means that Alina could overthrow their entire civilization), and the sort of people who love it when you shake your fist and swear revenge against them and their schemes.
Kyouko is very proud of her noble heritage, and angling to prove that she can nab herself a princess. She’s a recent addition to the social scene, having been homeschooled on her native islands, but she’s got a great evil laugh and once managed to sucker you into being forced to accept... dinner at the Felorian diner on the south side of town! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA
(It was actually really nice and she insisted on hand-feeding you her salad while you tried and ultimately failed not to accidentally flex out of the ropes)

**Anarion** · 2019-07-20, 05:44 PM (ISO 8601)

"Wait, you have this all wrong!" Kazelia says, even as guard foxes swarm all over her and change her outfit into an absolutely lovely wedding dress with the poofiest sleeves and lace everywhere, gosh that is nice. Goodness, Kyouko has wonderful taste, Kazelia would like this dress and also, like a tailor's sketch of it for future use please.

"My uh..." what had she just said, heart's most indulgent desire, right "...hear'ts most indulgent desire is to free Tashanna, if you could give me just a minute to get those rope snakes calmed down please. Those weren't meant for her, they were meant for my sister!" ...Smooth Kazelia, that will definitely help clear up the misunderstanding in this situation. But rolling right along, "They're my friends now, the rope vipers, and they just, um, like Tashanna too, which was an accident, so if you could just hold on for a little while while I help out here then I'll come with you and we can, uh, go out on a date and you can tell me all about who does your tailoring." Seriously though, somewhere is Asteria is grinding her teeth in blind rage and jealousy over this dress-work, that is a thing that is happening this exact second even if Asteria doesn't know why.

"Oh, also, I'm deputized right now by the Watch, and again, was having a conversation, all kidnapping was entirely accidental! But where I was going with this is I might need to tell Adila about this later and I'm not sure if princesses at the bazaar are allowed a whole retinue of guard foxes, that seems like the kind of thing the Watch wouldn't like very much, so I figure I should tell you about that. So, if you'll just help me out with the snakes here first, then I'm sure we can have a much more friendly meeting." Kazelia is feeling a bit flustered here, she'd really like to just focus on Tashanna and fixing that problem, but here's all these foxes going all over tying silk and lace, fluffing up the dress properly, moving things about and it's a little bit difficult. But she's doing her best to get the immediate problem fixed.

[I'm uncertain whether I just detailed my plan and Kyouko's place in it or appealed to her desire to kidnap Kazelia. But I rolled a natural 10 on Talk Sense to ask for time and maybe a little assistance to calmly free Tashanna and gather the rope snakes back up, so in this case it doesn't matter.]

**PhoeKun** · 2019-07-20, 07:08 PM (ISO 8601)

Alina stares down at her own fingers closed around her gift. Huh? But what did she say that was so wrong? Did Rhyza not like jewelry? No, that didn't make any sense. She tilts her head quizzically, and a series of emotions plays out on her face. First she's mystified. Then she looks a bit put out. Is this trying to say she's broke again?! She picked this especially because it wouldn't be turned down! After that come sadness and rejection at being able to do so little for this brave woman who so deeply undervalues herself. And then? Oh, and then the implication slides into place. And I promise you, no matter how long you've lived or how widely you've traveled across Hyperborea, you have never seen anybody look as embarrassed as Princess Alina does right now. Her blush is visible through her veil. It runs across her entire body. A hand flies up to cover her mouth, and she's reduced to incoherent squeaking.

"Oh! Oh oh oh oh! Oh gosh. Oh gosh oh gosh oh gosh. No! I mean, um. Yes? Oh sweet murmuring brooks, I didn't... eeeep!"

Give her a minute, please. This is going to take some doing. She thrusts her hand back out toward Rhyza, not daring to show the ring again but trying very hard to offer it anyway while she turns her head to find literally anything else to look at. Her toes pull in, and isn't she just the most adorable thing you've ever seen?

"I-i-i-it's a gift! A friend gift! Not... not that! I know you're... a-and that's ok! I don't mind! I'm not asking you to! I just, I just, I... oh gosh, um. I-it's customary to offer gifts to skilled knights for, you know, for good service. S-so this is just... I mean, you know, if you're not insulted! S-so that when you... oh no, what did I say? I just wanted you to come inside with me! I-in case any princesses get too, you know, handsy."

Also? Read the room Rhyza. She wants you to see her dancing. She wants you to save the Heart of Jedad with her, and then... well, like I said. Read the room. Her fingers uncurl, the very-extremely-not-an-engagement-ring still sitting in her palm, asking to be taken.

**Thanqol** · 2019-07-20, 07:55 PM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by Raz_Fox

Adila!

Let's take a moment to reflect, as you're ushered off with these three princesses: a thief, a friend, and your new legally binding friend. You're at the heart of a princess gemstone, glittering and bright, and each of the princesses here are the facets.

Tell us a little bit about the kitchen; the area blocked off in the dining room for the evening's entertainment; and what sort of good Jedadi comfort food is served at the House of Hospitality. Is this your first time here? I mean, surely not!

And while we’re at it... out of the three, which one do you envy the most?

Princess Hornet, no question. Imagine being able to mess up three times a day, destroying and causing chaos in your path, and be so secure in your society and position that nobody calls you out on it? Princess Adila is probably being totally fair when she assumes that Princess Hornet basically has zero problems or pressures in her life and can get away with anything and the grass in Hobling Keep is probably made out of sculpted emeralds.

The chief draw for the House of Hospitality are the spice cacti. They're simultaneously the most cursed and most blessed spices in all of Jedad - saffron, cinnamon, peppercorns, chili... The plants need a lot of patience and flattery in order to pick, and bitterly object to being sold on. But, oh, the taste! These are the grandmothers of flavour, the wellsprings of taste that all lesser spices aspire to be. Princess Adila comes here every month or so specifically to pick the chili peppers for use in her sandwiches and curries. She always gets first crack at them, too - there are very few people in the world who can handle what Adila thinks of as 'pleasantly spicy'.

The House of Hospitality doesn't have a permanent staff or a set menu - guests are expected to cook for each other. Tradition also demands that they base each dish around the fruits and spices from the garden, meaning that each dish is a fusion with Jedad cuisine. Despite some pretty mediocre chefs coming through nobody has ever screwed up cooking a meal in the House of Hospitality - the rumour is the kitchen is haunted by the Djinn's ghost and she intervenes to make sure every meal winds up the absolute best it can be.

**Raz_Fox** · 2019-07-20, 08:11 PM (ISO 8601)

Kazelia!

Two of Kyouko’s fox retainers start using special forked sticks to lure the rope vipers off Tashanna. Oh, how clever! You’ll have to remember that. And— ack, faceful of powder. Wow, they really came prepared to flatter teal skin, huh?

“Your highness,” Kyouko says, giving a little curtesy, her tail wagging happily behind her. “Please, extend my eternal enmities to Princess Helya for stealing such an exquisite beauty away from me.”

Tashanna takes a deep and grateful breath, smoothing down her diaphanous silks. “Thank you, Kyouko. Do be careful with Kazelia, please? She didn’t grow up hearing about how wicked you are, and I wouldn’t want her thinking she’s in danger of anything except matrimony.” She turns her head and winks playfully at you.

Is this... is this a game? Unless she secretly is Ninian and Kyouko’s working with her— whoop, pucker up for the lipstick, expertly applied with paws, somehow.

“She is in terrible danger,” Kyouko says, and raises one hand to her mouth as she laughs deviously. “I won’t have her thinking she can go about stealing kingdoms and seducing princesses however she pleases, as if we foxes are not unparalleled in such villainy! No, I won’t have any mercy on her! Mwahahahaha!!”

That’s the opposite of reassuring, but she’s so overdramatic that it’s a little hard to take her threats seriously. And Tashanna’s reassuring squeeze of your shoulder tells you you’re in no real danger... probably.

“Now, my blushing bride-to-be,” Kyouko says, tilting your chin up with the end of her fan and giving you a mischievous little smirk, “let’s go have dinner. I insist! Get hopping, there’s a beautiful girl~”

“Are you going to be all right?” Tashanna whispers in your ear as she helps you stand up. She stops to brush a stray lock of white hair back behind your ear, as gentle and delicate as you please. “I could ask her to take it easy on you... or to take me ‘prisoner,’ too, if doing this alone seems scary.” Void and snap, how is she the nicest princess??

***

Alina!

It’s like Rhyza is trying to vent all the heat in her body out through her ears. She gives a big, fake laugh, the kind that’s valiantly trying to be taken seriously. “Oh my gosh, my little lady,” she says, staring over your head, working her way back to being strong enough to look down. “You actually thought I was serious!! You’re so silly, of course I knew the whole time! I was just teasing you, my l-little iris, my sweet little water lily!”

She did in no way know this.

Still, she manages to pry your fingers off the ring, make it vanish into her wallet, and then usher you into the alleyway back behind the House of Hospitality to thank you for your queenly gift and give you some encouragement for your upcoming dance performance.

Veils are lifted. Lipstick lingers. A scarf is snugly knotted into place. And when she tells you she won’t let anyone touch you, the implied “except for me” leaves you breathless and, I hope, impervious to any mortification. Not even, say, seeing your childhood crush kiss your ex could bring you down, not when you know that Rhyza will only have eyes for you tonight.

***

Adila!

In that case, it’s time to announce the last guest of the House of Hospitality. She’s taken charge of the kitchen tonight, and has produced an interesting array of dishes, heavily spiced and iced in equal measure, but heavily dependent on root vegetables and very firm meats that take a while to chew. That’s because our last Princess is Natasha of Shinaro.

***

PROFILE: Princess Natasha of Shinaro

...who is this gal, anyway?
...okay, I think I found a reference, Shinaro’s an island northwest of the goblin homeland, barely counts as a kingdom.
...she’s here doing research on the Bazaar’s founding, I think? Don’t look at me. Hyperborea’s a big place.
I think she’s also, you know, a witch?? It’s not polite to just ask a princess that, though.

***

“Oh,” she says, when she sees you. She’s wearing an apron that says “DJINN’T YOU WANT TO KISS ME?” and oven mitts, having just taken some rhubarb-and-mutton pies out of the oven. She pushes up her glasses with one finger and gives you a very appraising look. “Do my eyes deceive me, or is this Princess Adila II visiting us? You should have told me. I only have the one notebook to hand at the moment, but if you’re willing to wait, I can go get my sketchbook and full journal set.”

“You haven’t even asked her,” Dandy chides softly, moving plates and dishes to the table without even being asked.

“Ah. Yes. One’s enthusiasm does get the better of one upon occasion.” She removes the oven mitts and offers her hand. “Princess Adila II, I would consider it an honor if you allowed me to interview you on the origins of the Watch.”

**Anarion** · 2019-07-21, 12:41 AM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by Raz_Fox

“Now, my blushing bride-to-be,” Kyouko says, tilting your chin up with the end of her fan and giving you a mischievous little smirk, “let’s go have dinner. I insist! Get hopping, there’s a beautiful girl~”

Kazelia was okay with this. Sure, on the one hand, Asteria flashbacks. But there's Tashanna offering reassurance, and Kyouko doesn't feel like Asteria, she's exaggerated, but not scary. That changed the feel, removed the sort of tension that made Asteria difficult to deal with, and meant Kazelia didn't feel the need to be so biting in return. She could avoid falling into old patterns here.

Moreover, the dress was lovely! The powder a bit much, the lipstick perhaps misunderstanding but then again the red in contrast with blue or teal was striking in its way. But the dress, oh void, Kazelia really liked that, she'd never done much with wedding styles, but she felt really beautiful in this. The poofy sleeves, the wide skirts of gorgeous fabric that rustled with her movements, the stitching across the body in curling flowers going up to each poofy shoulder, it really was something special. She must find out where Kyouko got her tailoring done and see if something could be made for more practical day to day wear.

Meanwhile, it seemed clear that the foxes were doing their work properly. Was this the sort of fun that Alina had talked about from time to time that the regular Hyperborean princesses had? Maybe that was okay, especially if it meant gathering everyone back up together, that's what Adila would want. And this was a clearly effective non-violent method.

So, Watch duty? Check
Princess duty? Check
Nobody's life in danger requiring urgent action? Check
and then

Originally Posted by Raz_Fox

“Are you going to be all right?” Tashanna whispers in your ear as she helps you stand up. She stops to brush a stray lock of white hair back behind your ear, as gentle and delicate as you please. “I could ask her to take it easy on you... or to take me ‘prisoner,’ too, if doing this alone seems scary.” Void and snap, how is she the nicest princess??

Then there was that gentle touch on her ear that made a shiver run down Kazelia's spine. Tashanna had been so wonderful. She had listened and empathized and encouraged Kazelia to be herself in a way that made her heart soar. And there she was even offering to be tied right back up for Kazelia. Kazelia was still tied up of course, but that wasn't especially inhibiting to her. So, as Tashanna lets her touch go, Kazelia turns to her and a little icy breeze comes up and pushes up the veil just in time for Kazelia to give princess Tashanna a quick kiss on the cheek. A way of saying thank you and you're special that leaves just a hint of the newly applied lipstick along with the feeling of a Rider's kiss on that spot.

Perhaps I should say something about Rider kisses then? There's all those rumors about draining souls and such. That's something of a misnomer, but not entirely. Every Rider has within them, deeply buried, a yearning. It is that feeling through which the Singers can be heard, even crushed down as it is by Oberon's dark aura. It is a yearning for the warmth lost, for the forgotten flame's echo still resonant with the soul. This yearning can be painful, since every Rider is full of the cold of the void in their heart. That cold, it comes through in their touch, some more than others, in magic stronger than in the mundane. But in a kiss that reaches deeply between two people, the cold yearns for warmth. Alina, in a long passionate kiss with Kaja, started shivering. Tashanna, with a quick peck, will feel a slight tingle left over along with the lipstick, like touching her face with an icecube for a second or two. But, if a Rider and a Hyperborean were to share a long and passionate kiss, or perhaps kiss after kiss after kiss (say, had Alina not pulled away) that cold, that yearning could overcome the Hyperborean and freeze their heart and let the void join them too. And you could call that a drained soul if you wished. But then again, perhaps a Hyperborean with enough fire in their heart could ignite something within a Rider, something that could even fill the vast cold of the void. Perhaps that would change the Rider forever. It's never happened, right? Who can really say?

What I can say is that Kazelia surprises Tashanna with a brief and chilly kiss that leaves behind the mark of her new lipstick, and she smiles and says "Thank you. I hope I'll see you inside" and then nods to the foxes doing all this work to make sure she hasn't ruined anything before it had a chance to set and is ready to step back inside with Kyouko.

**Thanqol** · 2019-07-21, 04:14 AM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by Raz_Fox

“Oh,” she says, when she sees you. She’s wearing an apron that says “DJINN’T YOU WANT TO KISS ME?” and oven mitts, having just taken some rhubarb-and-mutton pies out of the oven. She pushes up her glasses with one finger and gives you a very appraising look. “Do my eyes deceive me, or is this Princess Adila II visiting us? You should have told me. I only have the one notebook to hand at the moment, but if you’re willing to wait, I can go get my sketchbook and full journal set.”

“You haven’t even asked her,” Dandy chides softly, moving plates and dishes to the table without even being asked.

“Ah. Yes. One’s enthusiasm does get the better of one upon occasion.” She removes the oven mitts and offers her hand. “Princess Adila II, I would consider it an honor if you allowed me to interview you on the origins of the Watch.”

+Yes, I am Princess Adila II, and it is a pleasure to meet you Princess Natasha,+ said Adila, keeping her arms firmly folded behind her back. +I hope you'll forgive me if I don't shake your hand. I am not good with precision -+ she abruptly cut off her rehearsed excuse as an idea came to her, and instead channeled the contentment in her heart like Alina had shown her. A glittering silver light wrapped gently around Princess Natasha's hands, suffused with warmth, and smoothly lifted her hand up and down. She basked in the moment - here she was talking without moving her mouth, touching without using her hands, being present without filling the room, and wasn't that all something? It was almost like she wasn't a dragon at all.

Her mood buoyed even higher, Princess Adila continued with warmth in her thoughts. +I am afraid I am on duty tonight, and further, I have absolutely very little information on the origins of the Watch. All historical records are controlled by the Captain and the Annalist, and I only have a few tiny scraps of information beyond that. I suspect merely by having chosen to research this topic you already know a lot more than I do, but I'm happy to help with what I can.+

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