In the Service of Cyre

Volume 1: The Last War
Book 1: Blooded
Chapter 1: The Queen's Summons.

The summons came on a beautifully handwritten scroll, delivered by a messenger in the queen’s own livery.

You are hereby summoned to a command audience before her majesty, Queen Dannel of Galifar, regent of Cyre, Protector of the Realms of Khorvaire. You are to arrive one hour before sundown at the chamber of her majesty’s small council.

You’ve made what preparations you can, and, arriving a little early, have found Prince Oargev and the others he has asked to join him on his task-force of state waiting in the antechamber. A pair of warforged guards flank the door, each holding a long, ornate glaive. No-one knows exactly what this summons is about, but based on those who have arrived, it seems clear that the Queen has decided to assign you all your first mission.

The antechamber is a well-appointed room with a few plush couches, a sturdy, ornate bench, and many scattered ottomans and chairs. There is a sideboard where a butler offers you wine or water. The wines are a fine Aundarian White, and a rich, dark Q’barran red.

[sblock=ooc]You have time to talk here in the antechamber. I’ll interrupt your conversations when I finish the next post tomorrow or Wednesday sometime.[/sblock]

Alaric ir'Drake seems anxious to learn the truth behind this unusual summons. He paces the length of the room, intently focused. His mind races with thoughts of adventure - of a journey beyond the city walls - of an opportunity to lead. He scans the room, looking past the familiar faces - his old friends Dev and Oargev, Thom, the studious mage, Varis, the Dragonmarked sailor, and Kraken, the Prince's trustworthy bodyguard.

"Prince Oargev, might I ask what this is all about? Is there some urgent matter that brings us here so late?"

Then, as an afterthought, he motions to the butler: "Water."

Varis Lyrandar looks around, recognizing most of the faces around, bu not knowing their personalities. If they are good enough for the queen and Ogarev, they are good enough for me.

Not able to sit waiting, Varis paces the room, looking at the prince as Alaric ir'Drake speaks up: "Yes, my prince, has the Queen already spoken to you?"

Kraken sits at one of the couches, sinking deeply into it and glancing occasionally at the pair of warforged guards. Under most other circumstances he would take a more intimidating pose while standing somewhere close to Prince Oargev, but in this case, all of the faces in the room are old friends. Only Varis is a relative newcomer, but even the liason of Lyrander has been around for many months.

The warforged remains silent for the moment, not wanting to answer for his master without permission.

[sblock=ooc]Were we asked to surrender our weapons before the meeting? Also, I'll speak in slate gray when Kraken actually opens his mouth.[/sblock]

[sblock=ooc]Actually no, none of you have been asked to surrender weapons.[/sblock]

Dev, a thin whip of a boy no older than the Prince with a messy ruff of black hair that makes his fair skin look a bit pale in comparison, snorts at the question. He wears a black leather jerkin over white tunic, and dark brown breeches. He doesn't look armed, but those who know Dev know that there's always a knife -somewhere- on his person.

"Her Majesty is the tide...always pushing and pulling, never explaining or relenting."

For a moment his dark eyes linger on the butler. Is that you, father? Or will you be in the Queen's chamber wearing armor, or livery, or something else? Then he parts from the Prince's side to lean irritably against the wall.

"And she always moves in her own time, no matter what."

DistractingFlare said:

"Prince Oargev, might I ask what this is all about? Is there some urgent matter that brings us here so late?"

Then, as an afterthought, he motions to the butler: "Water."

Click to expand...

Walking Dad said:

Not able to sit waiting, Varis paces the room, looking at the prince as Alaric ir'Drake speaks up: "Yes, my prince, has the Queen already spoken to you?"

Click to expand...

Prince Oargev leans back comfortably in his chair, his brown curled hair falling behind him and down his shoulders. He is currently not wearing any weapons, his typical gleaming polished longsword and chainmail are left behind for this occasion. A formal audience with his mother was rare and the excitement of the event was almost too much for the young man. This was his first real opportunity to prove his worth to the country, or at least if it was what he hoped it would be.

Listening to the others, the Prince laughs slightly "Ah, if I had the answers to that I don't suppose we'd need to waste my mothers, I mean, the Queen's time now would we?" he says, standing up and walking over to the butler, accepting a glass of wine and returning to his seat.

"With the gathered members here I would suspect, and I'm sure you all have, that this must be the first mission that we will be asked to undertake on the crown's behalf." Prince Oargev says as he politely sips the wine, washing the liquid over his tongue and savouring the flavour.

[sblock=ooc]
Sorry for the delay, yesterday was crazy at work
[/sblock]

Knowing well that a summons to an audience with the Queen doesn't place any boundaries around how long he might be waiting, Thom brought a book to occupy his attention.

Sitting on the bench, he looks up from the book at the questions and at the Prince's answer, and promptly returns to his text.

Anxiously, with a slight air of exasperatioin, Alaric sits down in one of the lush chairs in a less crowded section of the room. He runs his fingers along the intricate designs in the hilt of his father's sword. The pommel is inscribed to "MARIUS IR'DRAKE, HIGH COMMANDER." The burden of his father's station is a heavy one. He will prove himself worthy when the time comes - until then, he will shoulder this weight alone.

For now, Alaric seems lost in thought.

The door to the council chamber opens and a middle-aged man in robes comes out. He smiles at the prince and says,
“Prince Oargev, are all of your men here and ready? Ah, yes, good. The council will see you all now.”

The scribe walks back into the room and beckons for you all to follow. Inside, you find a long table with seven chairs around it. In the center is Queen Dannel, sitting in an ornate chair. In the other six chairs sit an assortment of advisors. All of the chairs are on one side of the table, leaving the other side for you to stand before the council. As the six of you array in front of the council, you notice Queen Dannel’s face flicker a smile of pride as she looks on her son, but immediately her royal mask falls back into place. She directs her attention to her son.

“My son, when I was your age, this country demanded that I lead them through war. It was something of a struggle to unite our nation in order to continue the fight, but I was equal to the task. The nobles of this nation did not know me or what I was capable of. In these dangerous times, we must look to a time when you will take over as king of Galifar, leading Cyre through all of the trials of this time. I wish to see to it that they will know you, respect you, and love you.”

The Queen looks over the other five of you.

“We are trusting the life and well-being of our Prince to your hands. I know you will guard and keep his life as if you were protecting the very life of Cyre. This is your commission, and you will be well-rewarded for it.”

She then nods at the scribe, who walks to a side door and brings in a middle aged, human man. One of the councilors, Lord Overton ir’Wyng, speaks up.

“This is master Donnan d’Vadalis. Our great success with Cannith’s warforged gave us an edge in this war which we failed to capitalize on. We are looking for the next great weapons in this war, and we believe that House Vadalis may be able to offer this to us. Master Donnan…”

The human speaks up, addressing both the council and the group, bowing slightly.

“Your highness, councilors, thank you for hearing me. We, under your Grace’s direction, have completed our secret installation here in Cyre. We have developed a number of exciting war-creatures we would like to demonstrate to your highness—however, we are a bit hesitant to bring any of our creations out of the installation. If the other houses or nations caught wind of our studies…well, there would be problems. I humbly beg you, come see our creations for yourself.”

The queen address him,

“We are certainly interested in your progress Master Donnan, and have decided to send my son, Prince Oargev to your facility in order to inspect your progress. I assure you that he and his companions will exercise the utmost discretion, and report directly back to me with how pleasing their tour of your facility is.”

Donnel looks briefly troubled when he realizes one of Oargev’s allies bears a Dragonmark, but one look at the Queen drains him of any willingness to speak against her orders. He bows deeply and is escorted from the room.

Lord Overton nods to man in military dress. This man, Lord High General Alvos ir’Brillik speaks up.

“House Vadalis’s Clifftop installation is along the coast, just across from Karrnath. There have been reports of small Karrnathi raids coming across the water, and as a matter of national security, my Lord Prince, we will send a small troop with you to discourage any Karrnathi aggressions. I believe the Queen’s Own 51st Warforged Battalion has recently returned from the Thrannish border, and will be assigned to you. Their commander, Blade, knows his business and will defend you well. You will be able to leave with them under your command tomorrow.”

Queen Dannel speaks up once more.

“Go to Clifftop, see what is to be seen, and if they have anything that is likely to help us…then learn about it and give me a full briefing. Mr. Trannith and Journeyman Varis, please be advisors on matters of magical and natural potency in this, and Lord Alaric will be able to advise you on military application…”

The queen’s eyes twinkle and a hint of a smile appears on her lips as she continues,

“Dev, see to it that you don’t wander off from the tour and stumble upon anything they may be hiding from us at that installation we have helped them conceal so cleverly. We wouldn’t want them to feel as if we do not trust them. Now, ask us what questions you have, so we may prepare you for this journey.”