Fantasy RPG Forum - Standing Trials

Rey gave a polite smile as her and Xander separated, ready to turn and head towards Fridgar. Her attention, however, was drawn to the door as the Empress entered and was announced. When the man who thought himself a 'dashing rogue' had been announced, she thought that the worst of it was over - but this was a new level of ego. Any who needed that kind of introduction, Rey thought, was more than likely compensating for a mass of insecurities.
As that thought entered her head, Fridgar made his approach and interrupted the woman. Rey had no objections about that. "The dance was interesting, though I've had better. I think I'm rusty, though" she explained. She needed some practice at dancing, admittedly. Maybe her and Fridgar could try it some time.

Hearing of the mage made her tense with anger. He'd spoke to her and threatened her. As the thought of all she could do to kill him flooded through her head, Fridgar brought up Lisirra - then claimed they only retaliate. A volley of emotions flooded through her. Retaliate? And what the hell did he mean 'We need to talk about your immortal'? What about her? She found herself clenching her fist.
Rey ignored the rest of his conversation until eventually Fridgar kissed her and made his departure. As he spoke the egg in her head went insane. It didn't take an idiot to work out that Fridgar and the mage had spoke about Lisirra. After all, why else would he know directly if he hadn't worked it out before? That meant one thing - the mage needed to go. He was taking Fridgar from her, or so the egg said. She felt it twist as he walked away, her head thumping with hate and pain.

With her head thumping and anger surging through her, Rey made her way to the group. Two men, including the 'dashing rogue' himself. She felt herself snarling quietly, before she realized she was doing it. She then shook her head as the egg started to slow down and hurt her less. Her eyes glanced to Andras and she smiled, nodding gently. She then looked to Tristan, unsure of if she had seen him before. Something was familiar. She just smiled and nodded to him as well, ignoring the slight headache.
"It's a pleasure to meet you both, let's enjoy the games."

hen did it suddenly get so hot in here? Sin hooked a finger under the neck of his outfit and tried to make some space for fresh air to travel down through. Nothing would budge. The outfit had been tailored to fit him perfectly and so it did. He leaned in a little as Saeri spoke, making sure to catch every word. While it wasn't deafeningly loud here, the amount of people that had gathered here already and the new ones constantly arriving caused a general buzz in the air that made it a little more difficult to hear what people were saying in general. There was only so much people could do to keep their voices from spreading. He was glad to hear that she agreed with his unspoken opinion. "Indeed. It's just a little game for the rich and noble citizens of Andaris to play."

He didn't really know why but when Saeri mentioned trust and knowing her, Sin felt his asterism push light to his cheeks, the illusion following suit and darkening his skin to a little less pale. Surrounded by the light skin, it would have been clearly visible had he not been wearing a mask that covered most of his face. The fact that he tried to drink through his glass and Saeri obviously had noticed his mistake didn't help to get rid of the blush on his cheeks. At least she was enjoying herself this time. When he finished drinking and got himself back together a little, he held onto the glass. He waited a moment, his illusion mimicking the taking of a deep breath, as he calmed himself down, before speaking again. "I don't think you should have picked something different. It suits you." Just for one evening, let me pretend you're just like me and that I don't need to worry about any of the lies that lie in the future.

When she asked her big question, Sin hesitated for a moment. He didn't want to ramble on about how he thought this was all a mistake and a waste of resources. The Rynmere Citizen's Alliance would have a field day with all of this. When he did respond, he wasn't really sure where the courage to do it in such a manner had come from. Maybe Aelig was looking out for him and decided, for once, not to turn everything into chaos around his son? Sin leaned forward so his face was right next to Saeri's. His carefully touched his empty hand to the lower arm of the hand she was holding her drink with and spoke softly so nobody but her could hear it. "I have to admit that I haven't really thought about anything besides the fact that I managed to get such a beautiful date to the ball. However extravagant or outlandish their choice of dress, so far they all pale in comparison to my date."

The burning feeling underneath his mask increased as Sin stepped back. His mask lightly touched against her, the glass clinking together softly. He moved his hand from her arm as he stood up straight, glad the mask covered most of his face right about now. Before being overcome by a desire to run and hide from his own stupidity, Sin managed to wink from underneath his mask. Luckily, he didn't have to run and hide for long as all eyes turned to the entrance with the announcement of the longest string of titles Sin had heard tonight. Whatever Saeri had planned on doing in response to his rather open words had to wait as she turned to look at the entrance as well.

It was curious how people always said that looking the empress in the eyes was a sure fire way to get cursed and yet, now that she stood a little higher and in plain sight, everyone was looking at her. While he found the whole title announcing thing way over the top, especially in this case, Sin had to admit that he enjoyed her choice of dress. Even the servants were more extravagantly dressed than her. He wondered if the whole curse thing would work on him considering that he didn't actually have any eyes through which he could get cursed. Was that even how the curse worked? Sin wondered if maybe there was some type of domain magic behind it all. If it was then it was a highly useful skill to have to keep people at bay. His mind returned back to reality as the empress called for donations from the attendants.

Now there was something he could get behind. Taking money from all these golden spoon fed nobles and spending it where it was needed. Not that he had any nels to spare for these charities but he was sure there were many nobles here who did. In spirit, he thought, they could spend a little bit more for his sake. His attention was pulled back to his side, where Saeri stood, as she mentioned not wanting to donate. "I already did. To the fund for the continued survival of the Rathaan, a rare species of Eídisi." Where did he keep pulling those awful lines from? Unlike the previous lines, however, this one didn't bring a heated blush to his face.

When the entertainment was announced, Sin's first thought was to simply ignore it and continue on with Saeri in the main hall. He was sure that not everyone would go into these games. Not everyone was here to be seen either. Many attendees were simple people who had saved up for this night out for the past seasons in order to be able to let go and enjoy themselves. whatever entertainment they had in mind involved very little games and very much free drink, food and dancing. When he turned to tell Saeri of his thoughts on the subject, he noticed her checking her fan for her colour. When she asked to check his, he pretended to look for his kerchief. Now where had he put it again? He could only stall so much before he found it and, reluctantly, showed it to her. They were not in the same group.

"I guess so, yes. I hope it's over quick, though. Maybe, if we're lucky, there'll be a match of chess between our teams somewhere down the line? I wouldn't mind teaching you a thing or two about strategy in the name of 'entertainment'." Sin smiled and nodded, giving a short bow in her direction before they separated. Once she was out of sight, Sin went his own way to look for his group, avoiding servants with donation boxes as best he could and claiming to have no money when he couldn't. However, with the crowd of people in the ballroom all looking for their colours or getting out of the way of the people looking to play, he couldn't seem to find his specific group anywhere.

Speeches and gestures were made, the repercussions of which would reach much, much further than those here gathered suspected. The Silent Watcher watched and they peeled off into their groups.

But not all of them.
Sintih seemed to be left without a group to join and, of all things, the Empress herself walked up to him. "Have you chosen not to take part, sir, or would you like me to escort you to your group?" Close up she was undoubtedly beautiful and she did not seem to mind looking at him. Maybe the curse was a lie?

"I would be happy to walk you to your group or, if you would rather not join them late, we could stay here and chat, wait for them to return?" She seemed quite content with whichever option he took. "They are just playing a game where they pretend to be other people, all in different scenarios. Very dull, I'm sure." Could it be possible, but there was a wicked grin briefly on her face.

Whereas Rafael gave a message and then moved over to a group of guards. His was a military presence and, once the groups had all gone, Rafael would notice what Sintih would not. There were far less guards here than there had been before the ball started. "We got the short straw. Don't get to guard one of the groups," one of the guards said to him. Gaving Rafael a smile, he whispered to him quietly. "Hey, lad. Want to know a secret?"

Whether Rafael did, or didn't, the guard whispered to him.

his night was just getting better and better. First Saeri turned from an interesting companion into a beautiful woman and now, due to his inability to find his group, Sin found himself in the presence of the Empress. And not the presence people used when they spoke about someone sitting high above them on a balcony during a play or something like that, no. In the actual, physical, I-could-touch-her-if-I-wanted-to presence of the Empress. In what was a sea a opulence and beautiful clothes and masks, the maskless and soberly dressed Empress was unmistakeable.

Being this close to her, and having her ask him a direct question, Sin noticed quite a few things. The woman looked much more imposing from a distance. Standing next to her, towering over her, Sin didn't feel like he stood in the presence of possibly the second most powerful person in the kingdom. Without a mask, it was quite plain to see that she was a beautiful woman. It seemed that Rynmere didn't have a shortage of those, the Empress included. But it was not the beauty Sin sought after. He couldn't really tell why but after having spent the beginning of the ball in the presence of Saeri, Sin had to admit that this woman didn't measure up. Not that she was ugly or anything, not even by a long shot, just... less beautiful.

Lastly, he noticed that she didn't seem to have a problem looking at him. Was she testing him to see if he would brave the curse and look back at her? Sin didn't think twice on it as he let his empty, white, illusionary eyes rest on hers. His glass decorated mask his most of his face but the eyes betrayed his race without a doubt. Or at least the race of the illusion he wore in Idalos. "I have to admit that I'm not interested in the games provided tonight. I came for the ball and the company. The game sort of ended the first part for me although, right now, I couldn't complain about the second part if I wanted to. If you wouldn't mind, I'd be honored to spend some more time with you."

Sin brought rossed his right hand over his chest, lightly resting his fingertips against his shoulder before giving her a quick bow. Despite his thoughts on the person in front of him, or rather, his thoughts on what she represented, Sin had been thought proper manners, both outside of noble circles and in. "Unlike a lot of people, I don't see the need to pretend to be someone else. Since they'll just be talking as other people, I would prefer to simply talk as myself. A wonderful event, by the way. It took a little longer than expected to get started but I'm glad that we still managed to get it on track this season. Nothing beats the Cylus cold more than crowding together with a lot of good people, warm food and enticing music."

Sintih waved to one of the many servants that were looking after the remaining guests and took one of said nibbles off the plate he was carrying. His half empty glass of juice was still in his other hand, something he seemed to have forgotten since his separation from Saeri. He ate the bite in one go and washed it down with some juice. Not that he could really taste anything but the feeling of the food clattering down the hole in his body towards his asterism gave Sin the slightest idea of what the other races of Idalos felt when they ate or drank something. He knew that it wasn't even close to the real thing but Crystals weren't as good at creating feeling as flesh and blood were. Then again, crystals were better at surviving than flesh and blood was.

Emerson Sands listened to Sintih as he spoke and a soft smile graced her features. "Yes, it did take rather longer than we had anticipated at first, but that was for a reason. There is more than one game afoot, all will become apparent soon enough." She smiled at him and looked around the room as though seeing it for the first time. "Yes, I suppose. It all seems rather lavish to me, when there are poor amongst us who starve and suffer. Still, it is not my place to question, just to attempt to help to the best of my ability."

Looking over at him, then, the Empress gave Sintih a radiant smile. "I am sorry, you have me at a disadvantage. I was not here when you were announced and so I do not know your name. May I ask?" She lifted her lips in a slight smile as she asked him for his name.

Meanwhile, Rafael asked the older guard and the man in question shrugged. "Thought it would be funny, I guess. I don't know, who's got a clue with this lot?" Whether he meant the man he was specifically referring to or nobility generally was not clear, but he certainly didn't seem overly impressed. Still, it was just a few bits later that Rafael's companion was called out. There was trouble, apparently and so the older man went. Rafael was to stay and given the specific order to protect the Empress. How he did that, of course, was up to him.

Meanwhile, once the Naughty Bear had been taken away and secured (although not by any of the doors that anyone saw), the first of the game-players came back in. But only two of them. However, shortly after that, the others followed in and soon ~ within a few moments anyhow ~ the room was buzzing again as people returned from their games and rejoined old companions or found new ones. That, of course, was up to them.

There were rumours, it must be said, that there had been some kind of altercation. Would anyone notice changes in group numbers? Just a brief time, chatting and re-acclimatising was what happened next.

How strange.