Medieval RP: The kingdoms of Ardania and Derangia

"Welcome." Greeted James, standing with his sword in an easily retrievable position, just to be safe. The room was not exceptionally large, but could fit everyone in without too much discomfort. a single lantern illuminated the room with a red glow.
"Forgive me if I seem impatient, but I would prefer not to remain in this place for to long," the spy-master was claustrophobic, but he could deal with that. His main problem was "Every second spent here is another where we could be discovered. I don't think I need to tell you everyone would die. What do you need?"

"Fine.." Lyra said, though she had hoped to get some sort of apology before releasing the brute. Oh well, no point in wasting anymore time here, "Release."

The vines that were wrapped around the dwarf, unwrapped themselves from her and retreated back into the ground from hence they came from.

---

"I know, I know," Lukas said taking a seat in the room, motioning for his 'sister' and the young boy to join him, "I'll cut to the chase. I need a way into the castle as soon as possible. If my information is correct, the Derangia Queen is gonna make her move soon. As much as I hate to help out some monarch, I see no other way around it other than to give the queen of this country what information I have. And I can't exactly waltz in there all willy nilly, you know."

"In that case, you're in luck. It just so happens that Her Majesty is hosting a royal party for her, ahem," He looked rather sheepish at the next thing, "30-something, I think, birthday. There will be so much entertainment that no one will remember all of the entertainers," James withdrew some parchment which had on it a moderately detailed map, which showed how the entertainers would be getting in. "We copied this from the master copy, at great risk to the safety of our contact. I trust you will make it worth our while?"

Valery rubbed a few parts of herself that were held by vines.

She muttured a few curses in Dwarven assuming nobody would understand her. "Stupid... fucking... idiot... bumped into me..."

She gave Lyra a dirty look but said nothing more. She was rash and pretty stupid, but she knew when and where to pick her fights, and she never goes back on her word.

Just testing this color.

"I told you I did not bump into you and don't call me an idiot," Lyra scoffed. Having been taught by family languages of most of the races, she knew exactly what the dwarf said. It was annoying to get repeatedly blame for something she did not do.

It was then that the maid spoke up to hopefully stop the argument before it escalated again, "Excuse me miss dwarf, but I believe the elf here is correct. She was not walking at all at the time you bumped into her. So she couldn't possibly have been the one to have bumped into you."

"Told you, idiot dwarf," Lyra muttered under her breath in elf.

Milano frowned slightly at the elf, "If you don't want to be called an idiot then you shouldn't call others idiots, miss elf."

Lyra sputtered a bit in surprise. She did not expect a simple maid to know the elven language. But... now that she got a closer look, she could see the slight sharpness in her petit frame, signs of an elven heritage.

This was actually the first time Milano has ever spoken in elf since coming here. Back in Derangia, when her and her brother wanted to talk privately, they always spoke in elf in hopes that eves droppers would not understand. In fact, no one in Arandia would even guess that this young maid had elven blood in her veins.

---

"Yes of course," Lukas said taking the map and tucking it in his vest as he pulled out a pouch filled with gold coins. He placed the pouch in front of the man with a grin, "I hope this will suffice for your troubles."

With that, he stood ready to get out of this cramped room and get down to business, "Kitty Kat, Barny, you two up for entertaining a Queen tonight?"

"Wha-" Valery was dumbfounded that Lyra understood her.

"You speak dwarven?" That annoyed her. That annoyed her so much she nearly attacked again, but Milano's words reached her.

She looked at Milano, and sighed. "Yeah, I suppose she wasn't moving..." She hated admitting she was wrong. She hated it so much.

Then the maid spoke in elven, and that annoyed her. She had taken advice from an elf! An ELF! Her face got all red and she nearly jumped at the one nearest her. Then she noticed it was Alice, and calmed down. She sighed, Yeah whatever,

Meanwhile, Candy looked up at Milano, "Huh?! You're an elf?" She looked more closely, "No... oh but you know the elven language?" She asked, looking at her with still surprised eyes.

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Barnaby had a big smile, "Yeah! We're going to the palace to DANCE!" He said, rather incredibly loudly.

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A very tall priest stood outside of his church. He was watching people pass by, and he himself seemed to be minding his own business, standing around doing nothing.

Suddenly a woman ran up to him, "Big Brother~ Big Brother~" the woman was clearly a nun, and she jumped on him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, "You remember what today is right~?" asked Winnifred, smiling right into his face.

Johnathon was clearly not comfortable with the hug but said in a voice unaffected, "Of course, Winnie. Today you go on your first missionary trip. Have you found someone to guard you yet?" He asked.

"Not yet, but there are some mercenaries in the castle,"

Jack was walking past and overheard this conversation. He had been thinking that it was strange for his sister to be missing from the Library, but he heard this conversation, and asked, "Pardon me, but where will you be going?"

Winnifred said, "Hm? Oh to Derangia. There are too few christians over there, and if we can convert them we can maybe stop the war!" She said with utmost confidence.

The word Derangia made something click in Jack's head, "hm... Derangia... mind if I tag along? I won't be a bother and I'm excellent at making drinks and healing potions,"

Johnathon was about to speak when Winnie shouted out, "Sure! The more the merrier, and I can convert you along the way," She gave Jack a wink. John shook his head.

"Fine," said John, "But you had better find a good mercenary to defend you," He said. Winnie smiled and gave her brother one last hug before turning and heading towards the castle, Jack following along behind her.

(EMO! I want your character to be the mercenary! It'll be great! Love triangle between Jack, Airen, and Connor! Also, it gives yours and White's characters something to do)

(Also, you don't have to if you don't want to, and I wouldn't have suggested it here but I hardly ever see you in the chatbox)

Alice sighed, glad the argument was over.. mostly. Still, it had shocked her that Milano spoke the elven language. She herself only spoke common.. and it irked her slightly that she couldn't understand the conversation half the time. Perhaps she'd have to study up on the other languages in her spare time.

Even if the small battle was over, she didn't particularly like lingering, but she didn't want to rush the princess. Instead, she continued standing between the princess and the dwarf, keeping her eyes on both the dwarf and the elf.

-----------------------

Catarina had stayed quiet through the whole exchange, unbothered by the crampness of the room, but soon becoming bored without any action. So, when Lukas jumped up to announce their job, she leaped up after him, looking excited. "A Queen? Of course! This will be my most glorious performance to date, I assure you, brother!"

Looking down at Barnaby, Catarina smirked. "You dance? Oh no. You look like you're dying whenever you try, midget.. so you can act like our dumb and mute assistant. It's a role that suits you perfectly. Well.. not the mute part.. you have issues with shutting up and letting the adults talk."

Barnaby looked at Catarina with great annoyance in his face, "Hey, hey!" He was mostly annoyed that she had been right... well, about the dancing part at least.

"I'm grown up too, so I can talk just fine with you all!" He pointed out, loudly.

"Oh no, my princess," Milano said, correcting her on what she was, "I'm part elf. My Mother was a half elf you see and my father human. In any case... we should go now. It's getting late and your mother's party will be starting soon and I need to get this vegetable to the chief."

As she said this, the maid lifted up a sack filled with all kinds of greens and various other vegetables.

---

Lukas laughed at the banter between the two, ruffling the little boy's hair. He lead the two back out the store and walked down the streets once again. They would need to wait until the Queen's party started.

"Now, now you two, no arguing. Besides, I got a special mission for our little Barny here," He winked at his sister, letting her know what he planned. And by that, he meant putting Barny in a little girl outfit, wig and all.

"A drink?" Airen repeated. "I suppose I can accompany you for one."

He stepped to the side and gestured to the door. "Lead the way," he said, smiling a little and causing his eyes to crinkle slightly.

The Queen of Ardania, Marie III, walked out of her room with an extremely satisfied grin, having finished entertaining her guests. Now it was time to prepare for her party, a most lavish occasion celebrating her 30-something birthday. She wondered where her dear daughter could have ran off to, but did not worry. She knew Alice would take good care of the princess.

"Ah.. now... what to do for the party..." She pondered aloud.

Lognia, who had been outside guarding the room where the Queen had been entertaining, stepped up to her as she walked down the hall.

"Your Majesty," she said, bowing slightly in respect. And Lognia truly did respect the human, though not because she was the Queen. "Were your guests... satisfied with your... hospitality?"

(@Davy: I say yes. XD)

Connor lead the way to castles dining area where he often dined with other knights, but was currently empty. Taking Airen to one of the tables and giving him a seat. "wait here i'll be right back with drinks." He said heading to kitchen and later coming back with two mugs of Ale in his hands. "here you go, a good ale." he said placing Ale infront Airen, but same time wooden flute dropped out from Connors pocket."Darn bad tailor job..." he murmured and picked up his wooden flute from ground and placed it on the table.

Airen sat at the table and nodded at Connor when he was given the ale. Seeing as he can't drink with a mask on, Airen pulled down his mask before taking a sip. The ale was relaxing at the least, though memories of lengthening his alcohol tolerance at the hands of his master was not.

Seeing the wooden flute, Airen pointed at it and asked, "You play?"

Before Connor was able to take a sip from his ale he lowered the mug out of way o give his answer while giving glance at flute. "Yes, actually. I tend to practice playing it during my breaks, but theres never anyone listening i think. I currently know two songs which i can play perfectly." He said taking sip from his mug.

"i can play one of those two if you want." He said with smile placing his mug on table and taking flute on to his hand.

"Oh ho, why of course they were, my dear Lognia," Marie said with light laughter as she walked down the corridors, expecting the elf to follow behind her, "Tis a shame you could not join us, though. In any case, we should make haste with the preparations of the party tonight."

Airen blinked. He wasn't expecting that, but since Connor was the one who brought it up... "If you're comfortable with playing, then sure."

~

Lognia smirked as she followed Marie, though she didn't bother to respond to the blatant invitation.

"Yes Your Mjesty," she said. "I'm sure tonight's festivities would be enjoyable."

"Alright then....hmmm How about "High tide"?" He said before placing his lip at the end of flute and started play

"High tide"

Spoiler:

The music from the flute echoed throughout the castle making everybody to hear the song which was playing. Connor carefully kept placing tips of his fingers over flutes holes to create the right tune taking some breathes fitting for the rhyme of music. keeping eyes closed as he played the flute.

Marie nodded her agreement then turned around with a grin, "Lognia, before we check on the decorators, let us go raid the wine cellar for a bit. After all, we should make sure our guests get the most top quality of wine."

This of course was just an excuse. The festivities had many hours still till they started, and Marie felt the need to celebrate now with one of her most trusted guards. One glass of wine would not hurt after all. She could hole her liquor better than most men.

Alice looked gratefully over at Milano, as she really wanted to get a move on. She couldn't really say it like that, though, as that would be both disrespectful and improper.. but she could certainly think it loudly.

then something seemed to click. If the dwarf was still standing there.. and there were now too maids around a young girl and a elf, wouldn't the dwarf be able to figure out quickly who Candy was? Oh.. fantastic. Indeed. We really need to get going."

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"A grown-up. Right. You keep tellin' yourself that, shrimpy~" Catarina chuckled, watching Lukas pet the boy's head. She loved how that reinforced his childishness, and it make her laugh harder as she followed her 'brother' back outside.

"Ooo. I love it when we get to give him the 'special mission'~" She grinned back at her brother. "Really, I have the best family one could ask for.. and a little pet."

Valery had indeed noticed who Candy was. She very much recognized her and the maids. She decided she'd go along with them, even if they didn't want her. She'd just quietly follow, surely they wouldn't even care or notice....

Candy nodded, "Yes, let us go~" She said, and began to skip along down the road. They'd had enough adventure for one day, so she was now heading towards the castle.

------------

Jack and Winnie reached the castle, and winnie showed her official nun-status and was therefore allowed within some parts of the Castle (very few).

The two of them made their way around looking for what Mercenaries may be around. They heard some flute music and went towards, listening to it intently.

---

Barny blushed and crossed his arms when his head was patted.

Then he heard the words 'special mission', "Huh? What special Mission?" He was afraid he knew what it was.

Connor played the last two notes from flute and ending it with long note. He took Flute down from his lips and took nother sip from his Ale.

When the music started, Airen closed his eyes and let the notes wash over him. When it ended, he sighed and looked at Connor, gracing the other man with a small smile.

"That was lovely," he said truthfully. "I don't know how to play any instrument myself. My master said it's a waste of time."

~

Lognia closed her eyes and nodded her head at Marie. "If you wish it, You Majesty," she said.

"You know, the usual, Barny boy," Lukas said with a grin as he lead the two to a wig shop. There they would find Barny a nice little wig to go with the nice little dress they were getting for the poor young lad.

---

Lyra sent a glance at the dwarf before turning on her heel and following the princess. She was tired of playing around with the idiot anyway, besides now she knew a fellow elf or rather part elf was here. She couldn't insult in the elven language without being caught now.

Milano had done the same thing, following the princess back to the castle. She noticed, or rather sense someone behind them and moved closer to Alice, speaking in a low tone so the dwarf would not hear, "Miss Alice, I believe our friend from before has decided to tag along."

---

"Alright then, let's go," Marie said grabbing onto the guard's hand and pulled her along to where they kept their finest wine.

Jack and Winny followed the music and arrived right at the end, seeing Connor play the last note.

The man across from connor caught the attention of both Winny and Jack, and they looked at eachother before nodding happily.

"Excuse me," Winny said, looking at the one who was clearly a mercenary, "My name is Winnifred, of the Catholic Nuns, and I plan on going on a missionary trip to spread the Word of God. I was wondering if you would be willing to help me?"

Jack stood back, admiring the man a little. He wondered how reliable he'd turn out to be, and also wondered if the man was single...

-----------------------

Barny was clearly outraged the whole time they shopped for wigs, "I don't want to look like a girl!" He'd say. Of course, when he was like this the easiest way to calm him down was to remind him he didn't have to be there...

Catarina was holding in her laughter the entire way to the wig shop, shaking so much that it was making her ribs hurt.

"But Barny! You make such a pretty girl! Much more attractive then you are like this. Plus, if you don't like it, we could always return you to the pound and someone else can adopt their own little pet~"

The gypsy girl winked, then began to explore the wig store, picking out a bunch that would go well with Barny's eyes, some more plain and others more.. festive.

-----------------------------

Alice walked alongside Milano when they turned to leave, looking a bit on edge. The sudden fighting had made her a little jumpy.. perhaps even itching for a fight. Her hand rested on the hilt of her blade, fingers twitching. Still, even with the sudden adrenaline, she wasn't unfocused, and it was pretty obvious that they were being followed.. again.

She leaned toward Milano and nodded, also speaking in a low voice. "Yes. I believe I will chase her off. Please, continue on ahead without me."

Suddenly stopping, she waited for the others to get ahead a bit before she turned to face the dwarf, her expression.. unamused. "If you insist on following us, I'm afraid I will have to stop you by force. Either walk away, or please, feel free to attack first."

Airen looked up at the two newcomers. He was a bit surprised that the nun approached him though.

"I see," he said once he heard her request. "Well, I am currently hired by the Queen, but since there are plenty of soldiers and mercenaries around, I'm sured I won't be missed." He took a sip of his ale and sighed. "Besides, I need something to do..."

He raised an eyebrow at the man who was eyeing him (though he thought it was only to measure his strength, not... anything else). He may be a talented mercenary but he was clueless to things like those.

~

When they arrived at the wine cellar, Lognia opened the door for Marie and bowed once the woman entered.

"Eep!" Valery came out from behind a barrel she clearly wasn't hiding behind, "I wasn't following you!" She said, now suddenly very interested in the barrel.

"I'm just, you know, looking for a guide... to derangia... so I can kill a dragon..." She said, blushing a tiny bit and looking away. She should have known stealth would be pointless. She was the worst Hide and Seeker in all the caves back home.

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Candy laughed and skipped completely unaware of any change. At least until she turned around, "Alice, what should we do when we get- hm?" She looked around, "Where's Alice Milano?" She looked at Milano, a little confused.

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Barny hated this. He looked at the wigs Catarina grabbed, each one worse than the last. "I'm not a girl! And I"m not cute!" He cried out.

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Winni cried out for joy, "Yay~ Alright, pack up because it'll be a very very long journey after all! Derangia's pretty far away," Of course all her stuff was ready so she intended on following him around until he was ready.

Jack was also the kind to always be ready, his potions able to sustain him for a very very long time. He figured that as long as they had one extra blade on hand they'd be fine. Jack wasn't exactly defenseless, even if Winni was.

"If you don't mind me budding into this conversation, but you got aa pretty long way ahead of yourselves. I hope you wouldn't mind if i tag along? i can work as pack mule give some traveling music and in additional some swordmanship" Connor asked from Winny.

" And it's much better than sitting around in this moldy castle when my instructer is nowhere to be found. She mostlikely is lazying around on her ass..." Connor though in his mind

Winni smilled, "Sure! The more the merrier! Though actually, you should be the last one, I was only supposed to bring one person,"

Of course she was happy to bring along this guy if he was willing to carry her stuff. Made things so much easier.