Diplomatic Immunity: Wedding Bells a'Ringing

[Bront]

Vasha smiles warmly, "I'm no princess, just Vasha, though a girl can always dream. Your sister is very lucky. I guess you must be so excited for her."

 

[Rystil Arden]

"Ah yes. You appear to be of sylvan blood, and I suppose the fey do not have titles like princess among them. My apologies, my lady," Plydek grabs another glass and turns to the barkeep, "Nectarine Feywine for the lady, please."

He turns back, smiling Lucky, yes, I would agree with you there for sure. I can't speak for everyone, but I personally am very excited for her, as the bartender finishes pouring, Plydek smoothly picks up the glass without breaking stride and places it gently in Vasha's hand, placing both of his hands on hers ostensibly to steady the glass though possibly to hold her hands, "Who would have ever guessed she would marry before Helena? I sure didn't. Kastor took me for 1000 crowns on that bet, and I think he only took it up on a passing fancy."

 

[unleashed]

Tiberius Lucius Magnus, Male Praetor Warmage

*Tiberius, with Claudia on his arm, follows Vasha into the room, though he heads towards the pair of older gentlemen.*

 

[Bront]

Vasha smiles, "I guess I do have some fey in me, but I am a princess only in a dream, though I take no offense to the suggestion."

She take a sip of the wine, "Mmm, this is good. I don't believe I've had this before, though it reminds me of one of the fruit wines of Arris. So, is it custom to gamble on your sibling's wedding?"

 

[Rystil Arden]

*The two older gentlemen noted the arrivals when Plydek announced them and nodded in acknowledgement, returning to their conversation for the moment. When Tiberius and Claudia reach them, however, the red-blonde haired man who was doing most of the talking turns to greet them.*

"Hello there. Care to join us, lad? My wife will be in shortly, and I'm sure she'll be delighted to talk with yours."

"Whereas mine, on the other hand, will head straight for the man in the armour with the lavender hair, I'd put 100 crowns on it," his companion comments wryly, "You must be Ammon's friend from the Empire, then. I am Atreus."

"And I am Tyrus," the other man adds, though neither of them bow like the younger man did for Vasha, "Just Atreus, eh? Are you going to make me announce you by your full title then, my lord Atreus Atreides V?"

*Atreus snorts.*

"If you choose, though I'll have to share the favour, your Royal Majesty King Tyrus Tyndarea III, Keeper of the Sacred Tower, Sovereign of Lacadia."

"Point taken," Tyrus admits with a laugh.

 

[Rystil Arden]

"It's rare and delicious, brewed on far-off Amaranthia," Plydek assures her, "As to that, well it seemed like an interesting enough bet, and a sure win for me, but shows what I know. It's a shame, since I haven't lost a bet to Kastor in years, which I'm proud of since he's usually excellent at placing bets aside from bets with me."

 

[Bront]

"Yeah, I spent some time on Amaranthia with Mother, but not too long. Mother was never a big wine drinker either, so I guess I just haven't explored Amaranthia enough."

Vasha chuckles at the betting. "Well, Lynestra is the true winner here anyway. Is your brother and other sister here?"

Vasha looks around, curious if she recognizes anyone from her business earlier.

 

[Rystil Arden]

"Well, then it is my pleasure to do my humble part in helping you experience the delicious taste of your mother's home," Plydek smiles, "The others? Kastor is talking to Orin over there. Helena is 'freshening up'. She'll be back with the ladies shortly. Being a woman, I'm sure you hear that bit about how girls all go to the bathroom together far too much, but in this case, it was true."

(OOC: She doesn't recognise anyone from her business)

 

[Rystil Arden]

[SBLOCK=Random Socio-Political Note I Decided to Write--Elmurien and Mythweaver would know this]A random socio-political-gender note for the Rowaini culture: There's a good reason that the overwhelming majority of the female members of the very highest strata of the social elite are remarkably gorgeous and have similar builds--it's a case of selective breeding and a bit of eugenics. Basically, Rowaini women are considered to have intrinsic value only as sex objects and mothers. Because the men find busty gorgeous women to be attractive, they consider them to have more value as a sex-object wife, and they have also been found to be more likely to have healthy strapping sons and busty gorgeous daughters (that's genetics for you). Therefore, due to arranged marriages that dominate Rowaini society, a social order began to slowly impose itself where that particular standard of beauty was used as a bargaining chip to seal alliances and bargains. Since there is genetic variation, every daughter will be different, of course, and when a noble couple has a particularly beautiful daughter, because she is more attractive as a wife and more likely to produce better children, she can be married off to a more powerful family to gain alliances and connections and raise their own social status somewhat. This trend causes beauty to migrate upward on the social ladder, genetically. Meanwhile, if a daughter is slightly below-par (not too much, just a bit, and she's probably still quite beautiful at most of the higher ranks), she can still be married off to someone of equal or slightly lower rank who is willing to accept her because she is closer to the typical wife in his social stratus and also because she brings with her ties to the more powerful family. In this way, the slightly less busty, less drop-dead-gorgeous traits migrate down the social ladder. If a daughter is too much below-par, she is considered a waste of resources (and possibly a bastard child), so she is often either killed or given to a peasant family who can't have children of their own (could be an interesting character hook, actually), depending on the father's demeanour. What about the opposite case--a peasant girl possessed of incredible beauty? They are rare, and very special, so each has a different story to tell. Some of them are married off to very minor nobles or gentry, bringing the peasant family financial support and the noble family possible bargaining chips for upwards mobility in the form of daughters. Others become criminal con artists who masquerade as noblewomen, often successfully. Many become mistresses of powerful nobles, living a life of luxury and hedonism. Occasionally if her patron is very powerful (like a king), such a mistress can even be granted an honourary title, or even a real title for her sons, and thus enter the nobility, and the cycle of speculation on beauty continues. As a consequence of all this, most Rowaini stereotype and make the assumption that beautiful ladies have status roughly proportional to their beauty and bust. It isn't always right, and this is what lets those con artists get away with a lot, but it's a good rule of thumb to remember. It also leads to a general cultural attitude where the most beautiful ladies should always be treated like royalty--often they actually are, and even when they are dealing with other cultures where they know this isn't the case, the custom is strong, and it has just become customary.[/SBLOCK]

[SBLOCK=Tiberius]Tiberius wouldn't know the above SBLOCK, but it isn't a big secret or anything, and you may want to annotate it for the records.[/SBLOCK]

 

[Bront]

"What an odd custom," She says, wrinkling her nose. "Yeah, I wanted to freshen up, but the usher was pretty rude in insisting we'd be late. I said I could change right here, but no one seems to like that idea either."