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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Rystil Arden" data-source="post: 3818050" data-attributes="member: 29014">*They continue onward through the corridor, following the growing sound of conversation and revelry until they reach the Great Hall.**This large room is decorated festively by someone with a clear eye for colour and contrast.  The centre of the room has been cleared of tables and furnishings, leaving a wide open area for people to form groups to chat, and perhaps eventually to be used as a dance floor, if the musicians playing soft background music are ever told to bring up a lively tune for dancing.  Not counting the musicians and the servants who scurry about to make sure everyone is satisfied and happy, there are perhaps slightly less than one hundred people in this room, the guests, noblemen and noblewomen of all sorts.*[SBLOCK=Tristan's Knowledge Nobility and Royalty]These people aren't wearing big symbols of their houses, so it's basically impossible to immediately identify their houses without getting a close look at the signet ring and then hoping to remember.However, there is one relatively useful and generally accurate trick to place the relative rankings of the ladies, at least.  Noblewomen of higher rank tend to be closer to the Rowaini ideal of perfect beauty, so it is sufficient to rate them on a scale of 0 to 10 as they approach that ideal and then guess the approximate rank.  Of course, it is quite possible for a lady who ranks lower on this scale to be more attractive to Tristan, or any other man, based on preferences (for instance, preference for hair or eye colour, etc).  Actually, 2 or 3 is about natural average for noblewomen in general, and 0 is just the point beneath which almost all families will disown, kill, etc (plus only those of average or above beauty generally get to go to these kinds of parties, so they will likely all be 2 or above here--Rowaini culture is quite sexist and can be cruel).  Ordinary peasant girls average below 0, of course.  The girls at Lanvariel's Blessing, selected for being particularly attractive, would be peasants who manage a 2 or more.  No peasant without some hint of hidden noble blood is physically capable of being higher than about a 6, and those are incredibly rare.  A 10 is a beauty so exquisite and nigh-divine that it is said it can drive a man to madness or devotion.In general (though there are certainly exceptions, these are just the most common), you can generally determine rank as such--(0-3: Baronet (-1 not at all uncommon, but usually killed), 2-5: Baron (1 not terribly uncommon), 4-6: Viscount (3 not too uncommon), 5-7: Count (8 uncommon, but not too rare), 6-8: Marquis (5 uncommon, but not too rare),  7-9: Duke (10 happens, but not as much as for royals), 8-10: Royal (Queens will almost always be 9 or 10 because they are selected among the best to be married to kings, but princesses range from 8-10.  Anything lower is quite rare) ) [/SBLOCK]*Some groups stand out amongst the rest of the young nobles: *There seems to be a small crowd around someone, though the person is obscured by that crowd.**Elsewhere, there is a smaller group.  There's a young man who bears a resemblance to Richard wearing a fine blade at his hip, talking with another man with an amazing-looking sword, and also a very pretty young noblewoman with an animated expression as she listens to them.*[SBLOCK=Tristan]She's about a 3[/SBLOCK]*There's also an extremely beautiful young lady with long red-gold tresses who seems to be the centre of another group, that includes another young lady, looking quite beautiful as she laughs at something the other is saying, and a third, a slim brunette who nods and smiles.  There's also a charming young man with a winning smile.*[SBLOCK=Tristan]The ladies are a 6, a 5, and a 3, respectively[/SBLOCK]*Just nearby, two pretty girls who might be sisters seem to be trying to engage in conversation with a young man who's just a bit shy.*[SBLOCK=Tristan]The older is a 2, the younger a 3[/SBLOCK]*Over a bit, there is a slickly-dressed and suave-looking young man talking to two ladies, a pretty sophisticated-looking girl, and a remarkably beautiful young woman with clear and lovely green eyes.*[SBLOCK=Tristan]The first is a 2, the second a 6[/SBLOCK]*Over even more and off to the side is a pretty young lady who seems to be keeping to herself.*[SBLOCK=Tristan]A 3, perhaps[/SBLOCK]*Over all the way and to the right, there's a larger group, centred around a very beautiful young lady who has the same blue eyes as Richard, perhaps his sister.  Listening quietly is a delicate young lady, and a slightly antsy girl glances around even as she listens, making her the first to notice the Musketeer newcomers, which she points out to the others, as another young lady, seductively dressed, turns and winks in their direction.  A young man who was talking with them turns too, momentarily, and rolls his eyes as he turns back.*[SBLOCK=Tristan]Richard's sister? is a 5.  The others, in order, a 4, a 2, and another 4[/SBLOCK]       *Another group moves slightly as a beautiful girl flits into it, traversing the sea of people like quicksilver.  She enters into a conversation between a beautiful dreamy-eyed young lady and another in a lavish dress, plus two young noblemen, one of whom is wearing heraldry.*[SBLOCK=Tristan]Flitting girl is a 5, as is dreamy-eyed girl.  The other is 2.  Also, the heraldry is that of the Marquis Elmdor.  That man must be one of his retainers.[/SBLOCK]*Just past that, a pretty smiling girl and a beautiful young lady in a daring low-cut dress that shows off her ample cleavage laugh and flirt with a loud young dandy and a polite and smiling fellow.*[SBLOCK=Tristan] Smiling girl is a 3, low-cut-dress girl maybe a 5[/SBLOCK]*Finally, an assertive young man dominates a conversation with two gentle and naive-looking girls, one with chestnut curls just past neck-length and the other with straight dark hair.  Meanwhile, a stammering and shy young man can't get a word in edgewise, and so he glances around looking for someone else with whom to talk.*[SBLOCK=Tristan]Chestnut curls girl is a 3, the other is a 2[/SBLOCK] (OOC: Whew, that took forever.  Let me know what each of you guys do and with whom, if anyone, you'd like to talk.  That's a lot of people!)</blockquote>

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