The Wedding Bell Tolls

[The Wanderer]

A Pleasant Morning

40 Saun 724

All but the Ghost Burho had been adorned with sea-green streamers and sky-blue balloons which stood out against Yaralon's unusually prismatic skies. Saun was the wet season and by most accounts that would have made it a bad season to be wed but on the fortieth trial of Saun the skies were simply filled with dark multicolored clouds. The air was humid but there was a strong breeze throughout the walled city that seemed to be keeping everyone cool. Many claimed that the weather even seemed to bend around the procession as the soon to be wed emperor and empress moved through the city towards the Burned Emperor's large estate where the ceremony was to be held.

Tavern's and businesses across the great walled city had decorated their lands to fit the colors that Alys had chosen but some made more notable use of silk in support of the merchant leader they preferred. It wouldn't be forgotten. The streets were filled with music. Bard and bands had been scattered throughout the Burhos according to the instruments they played. Someone walking down one street might be accompanied by soft strings and someone walking down another might find themselves hounded by the intense beating of drums. The harbor Alys controlled, consequently also where the procession began, was notably filled with the sounds of reed instruments.

Along with the music and pop-up vendors that filled the city, there were whispers to be heard. Almost everything in Yaralon's traditions required some sort of audience. Duels in the dark were no duels at all. They were just murders. A marriage in private is a foreign marriage and often considered lesser. Alys and Amnar would be fools to have attempted a private proposal given their positions and the expectations placed upon them. However the whispers in the streets seemed to imply this would be a contentious event. The whispers began when rumor spread that Alys was the Raskal and Amnar was the Ethel but they only grew when people started claiming there was an uneven number of Oathguards accompanying the duo to The Burned Emperor's mansion. Some claimed Alys had more and it made Amnar look like he was after her money. Others claimed that Amnar had more and it made Alys look weak- a dangerous image for someone so central in the cities trade. After a few breaks of drinking, who knew what the rumors might cause?

In the early breaks of the celebration, The Crescent Empress could be found moving up from the harbor to the Stone Burho. She wore a light blue dress made of fine silk with gold embroidery around the neckline and billowing sleeves. On her hip she wore a rapier-like sword in an ornate sea green and gold sheath. It seemed a thin blade but the basket around the hilt seemed intricately designed to wrap around the wielder's hand like a series of vines with various flowers. She was accompanied by several men and women who seemed to have matching green outfits and less decorated weapons at their side. She'd make a few stops along the way to enjoy the music and perhaps calm her nerves. It was meant to be a happy trial and yet anyone who really saw herPsychology at Master might think she was... upset.

The Silk Emperor could be found passing from his Burho towards The Burned Emperor's. Amnar was always well dressed but he had stepped up to the challenge. He wore an elegant tunic made of the same blue silk as his bride's dress and embroidered with the same golden design. The belt holding his vowed saber seemed to be made of a silk and connected to a green sash over his left shoulder. His blade was a saber, crooked like the one who wielded it. Its sheath was a red leather with a simple silver top... or at least it looked simple from afar. He was accompanied mostly by men but there was one woman among his groomsguard. They wore various shades of red and silver, a strangely noticeable shade. One that contrasted greatly with the groom and the bride's attire. Amnar would not stop as often as Alys along his route to The Burned Emperor's home. He wanted to arrive first, but that didn't mean he couldn't be distracted.

It would take them both a short time to reach the mansion amidst the celebrations unless something stopped them.

Rules / Guidelines

• Welcome to the wedding of the season! Here are a few guidelines for this round:
• Feel free to explore any of the Burho's celebrating the wedding! Find something unique or strange if you want to.
• The ceremony will begin in about two rounds.
• This round both the Crescent Empress and the Silk Emperor can be found moving through the Burho's with their Oathguards.
• You have a week to post (open to extending it but looking to get us going here.)

[Woe]

Finding accommodation in the city wasn't hard for one of Woe's wealth, means, and resources. This allowed him to leave Botany to his own devices, cared for by a well-paid kennel master. Botany was useful at times, and a good companion to Woe. That didn't mean he didn't still get in the way with his antics, at times.

The comfortable accommodations acquired from the city were a means. A means to get the pulse on the current state of affairs. The city had changed since he'd visited. Before it'd been a sprawling, muddy, bloody mess of a city. Large and well populated, for certain, but lacking in key amenities. Things that most civilizations took for granted. Such as running water, sewers, and healers to service the injured. Somehow the city had cleared a corner.

No that was not accurate turn of phrase. More like the city had turned around, and flipped itself upside-down. Yaralon was half-way functional now, although it still retained the distinct culture. A penchant for honorable mercenaries engaging in duels with each other. They competed for contracts still, and had their mercenaries. It was all just... more organized. Woe had to admit to himself that the city had impressed him with the strides it'd made.

He knew there had been dragon activity in the area. The rumors of Vielkrontier and his exploits, his danger, and his massive figure loomed like a shadow over the city. Even though he was scarce to be seen in all the wilds that Woe had traversed so far. Then again, he'd not taken a close look to confirm his existence. He thought he could take Natalia's word for the dragon's existence. Her dragonling and dragonet were confirmation enough, afterall.

Still, this was an auspicious day, by all accounts. Two merchant giants were to get married. Alys, the Crescent Empress, who dictated a large part of the shipping trade by dint of her territory. She controlled the Harbour Burho. Meanwhile, the Silk Emperor controlled the Silk Burho, which was a place where most of all vicemen, prostitutes, and tailors among other professions worked.
It seemed to be Woe's kind of place. It wasn't clear to see what would be gained from the marriage of vice to external trade.

Woe was

cloaked in shadow

in the crowd, unnoticeable and unheeded by most by dint of his effigy. He looked sickly, gaunt, and pale if any noticed him. Which weren't qualities that tended to attract positive interest from folk. So he was left well enough alone as he crept up to the promenade, where the wedding procession moved along. He caught a glimpse of Alys. She was young, younger than he'd anticipated an Emperor of Merchants would be. And he couldn't help but notice that she didn't appear happy for the day of her marriage. For most instances of political marriages, where a princess had her hand given to a prince, this wouldn't strike him as odd. But in this marriage, where presumably she was entering into it as an equal partner? A little strange. He didn't have the time, nor the opportunity to delve further into her feelings. He was lucky enough to have divined that she wasn't happy, which could've had any number of causes. Although it couldn't be the decorations or something trivial like the details of the wedding. Reportedly she'd planned every detail.

Woe frowned, he wouldn't let it go at that. He wanted to know if he could turn whatever turmoil was brewing beneath the surface of Alys' brow, to his own advantage. So he followed along, a few bodies deep in the crowd, as he slipped between them following along the procession as much as he could. He followed until he had to veer off the path to make for the Temple of Chamadarst. It was far less crowded than usual, as the open air market outside of Chamadarst's holy place lacked business from foot traffick. Traffick that had diverted toward the parade route. There were some who didn't have a wish to attend the wedding, doing business in the front of the temple. Yet,, Woe ignored them, still maintaining his shadow cloak so they would not try to foist their goods on him.

He made for the depths of the temple, where he hoped to investigate why the wedding wasn't taking place in a neutral territory. Such as this Temple. Such a union of merchant lords would for certain have been more appropriate to hold in a place of commerce, no? But they'd chosen the stronghold of the Stone Emperor. Something was definitely afoot about this.

So Woe arrived, and kept his ear open for information as the parade continued unabated through the city. He could catch up to it later, when time came for the festivities to begin. He wouldn't miss the wedding for the world.

He knew the priestess of Chamadarst was resident in the Parchment Burho, in the Temple. He wondered idly if she knew of his fall from grace with Chamadarst. Well, be that as it may, he had value to offer, as ever for information. After exhausting the gossip and whispers trading places in the open air of the Temple, he would approach her directly. He relinquished his shadow cloak, and greeted the priestess. "Good day." He smiled, and held up his hand, showing the nel-shaped onyx on his palm, which signified the mark he still bore, but had no access to. "I had thought the wedding would be coming here, no? But from all I've heard it's heading to the Stone Emperor's stronghold in the city. I'd be so intrigued to find out why that is."

He smiled at the priestess, throwing his hood back. "Such a brazen snub toward Chamadarst would grate the nerves of a lesser Immortal." And though Woe no longer trusted Chamadarst, he still respected him. His lips curled downward, slightly, at the memory of the betrayal. But he had to put that out of his head. Onward to more important things, toward his own future. "Would you, by chance, be free to attend the wedding with me?" Asking a priestess out on what might be construed as a date, to a wedding? A bit forward perhaps, but Woe was nothing if not prideful. And he would see if he could attend the wedding fettered to a companion.

[The Wanderer]

A Pleasant Morning

40 Saun 724

It wasn't difficult to find a priest within the temple. While the outside seemed far more barren than usual, they were everywhere inside and they all seemed to be remarkably occupied with duties. Ever since the growing movement had taken the contracts from the temple and moved them into the growing Parchment Burho, many had seemed to discount the value of temple. No one was afraid of Chamadarst's rebuke. In truth, some in the temple approved of the movement because they felt that their own work was being used to serve powers other than the Coinking.

Chamadarst temple was the first thing people saw when they passed through the Gold Gate into Yaralon. Many foreigners mistook it for a symbol of Alys' power rather than the immortal it was meant for. On her wedding trial, the priests were out in force to remind people what the temple really stood for. While silk and sea were binding themselves to one another, the priests held several ceremonies to anoint those who had earned a rise from their silver circle to a gold circle. A small but important thing for those seeking to become lasting fixures in the wealth of Yaralon. Moreover, it was also a sign about how they felt. One did not simply miss the wedding of two powerful leaders, but no one could miss their advancement into the Golden Circle.

Woe arrived between ceremonies and as such found little immediately apparent about the building. The numbers and speed on the priests moving around probably indicated to him that they were doing something, but not exactly what unless he was already familiar with the customs and purposes of the temple.

Woe spotted his mark. A priestess who lived closer to the Parchment Burho than the others. It was strange but not so strange that anyone had ever questioned her about it. She didn't seem to notice when Woe dropped his cloak of shadows and approached her. She was reading something as he came near her and she slipped the note away when she finally heard his footsteps behind her. She turned with a warm smile, expecting to find another average citizen who was curious about the works of the Coinking's temple but her expression shifted quickly when she saw the nel Woe was presenting.

Her welcoming facade dropped slightly and she offered a small nod in acknowledgement. It seemed, fortunately for Woe, word of his falling out with Chamadarst had not yet reached Yaralon... or at least the head priestess of the temple had not told anyone else. She listened intently as Woe insinuated that they'd been insulted by the choice of location for the wedding.

"Hosting it here would lend more credit to the Raskal and Ethel than our head priestess wanted. Between the banking and the promotion ceremonies, there is too much here to safeguard should the... final stages of the wedding turn out for the worst. The Head Priestess is attending though. She left a little earlier." The woman said in a soft voice. It seemed rehearsed. Almost as if they'd been told what to say when asked about the wedding. The young woman's eyes seemed to shift back and forth for a moment, then she leaned closer and whispered "But I also heard a rumor that the temple was never approached to begin with."

She seemed surprised when Woe asked her to accompany him to the wedding. She didn't know him. She didn't know his relationship with Chamadarst apart from some small proof he was marked. That intrigued her, but not so much that she'd be able to abandon her duties. A small blush crossed her cheeks and she pulled her hood down a little more as if it would be enough to hide it. "I can't. I would but I- I can't. Head Priestess Naylin will be attending. You should look for her, she may know more than I." The priestess began looking around as if trying to find a way out and almost on cue, another priest emerged from a doorway and waved her over. "If you'll excuse me, I have to help administer another gold circle."

Unless stopped, she'd depart quickly and leave Woe to decide where to go next. By now the wedding processions would have drawn closer to their final destination in the Stone Burho so many of the streets would be empty. Those who lurked and lingered in the streets despite the wedding were sure to have some compelling reason for not attending- or perhaps they simply didn't care for weddings. Either way, the celebration moved forward.

Rules / Guidelines

• Sorry for the delays! Here are optional challenges for this round:
• Meet another NPC
• Find something strange left behind in the streets
• Find a surprising way into the wedding venue

[Woe]

Woe turned what the priestess said over in his head. She wasn't the high priestess, Naylinn. Woe had sought out her help in appraising the Onyx-Gilt Sovereign earlier that Cycle, but not quite made the connection. Better late than never then, if she was set to attend the wedding.

Interesting, did the Temple hold the Crescent and Silk Empire's in low regard? That seemed unlikely. Particularly on the part of the Crescent, who oversaw the import and export of much goods through the Gold Gate. Was the disapproval on the part of the Silk Emperor then? That didn't seem to track for any reason that was obvious to Woe. Although the purveyance of Vice was always a tricky and dirty affair, liable to make one many enemies, it still brought coin and wealth into the city. Surely Chamadarst cared nothing for how that was done.

So he was missing key parts of the puzzle, and he would have to be careful in his extraction of such in the pursuit of the truth. Something felt wrong about this entire thing, but he allowed the priestess to excuse herself. He didn't want to attend an acolyte as a companion to the wedding anyway. He would rather set his eyes on the Head Priestess.

So as she scurried away, he took off, into the streets. There were blue and white ribbons strewn about, streamers and slashes of cloth here or there.

On the ground, oddly enough, he found a lone black ribbon. It felt sturdy, and of a strange material that seemed familiar. It was then he realized it was a ribbon of Lethrodan silk. Just a ribbon.

"Hmmm, what have you been up to, Mother?" He whispered to himself. But then, he didn't automatically assume the presence of lethrodan silk to mean that Sintra was directly involved. More often she preferred proxies to her own hand in matters. It allowed a certain degree of plausible deniability if things went south. A lesson she'd surely learned all over again when her attempt to subjugate Etzos had failed miserably.

He smiled to himself, and went on to follow the road to the wedding.



About a break passed as he walked through the streets, all the way to the Stone Burho. It was a long walk, but he had time so he was assured.

However, what he was less assured about, was the face he saw at the edge of the block that led to the Stone Emperor's house. It was him. Cleaner of beard, and face, but unmistakably... "Fargis." Fleaface, the bastard that had dogged his heels from Etzos, and later betrayed him.

"Welly well well." Fleaface said, screwing his face up in amusement. His hand fell to the head of his hatchet, which hung from his belt. He wore a longcoat of brown color, and shabby leathers. "If it isn't the master."

"Yes, nice to see you again." Woe said with a smile, and then doffed his brow, "If you'll excuse me, I have a wedding to attend."

Fleaface watched after Woe, smirking, as the mortalborn walked past and toward the entrance to the Stone Emperor's mansion.

What was Fleaface doing here? But then, Woe was certain he'd find out. Fleaface was a creature of Sintra, but above all was loyal only to himself. It was probably what had endeared the once hatchetman of Woe to Sintra, and prompted her to keep an eye on her son.

He'd done more than keep an eye on him. He remembered the failure to save Faith, and how Fleaface had been instrumental in distracting Woe while Faith died.

He shook these memories from his head, however. He had a wedding now, and would see it through, whatever designs Fleaface might have here..

Woe didn't find a surprising way into the wedding venue, as it turned out, but presented himself to the guards at the entrance, announcing himself. He was well known at this point, and having such a luminary would surely lend credence to the proceedings. So he expected fully to be let in.

Once inside, he sought out Naylinn. Upon spotting her, he approached carefully, waiting for her to disengage from any ongoing conversations. "Head Priestess." Woe acknowledged her. "It's an honor to finally meet you." Woe who had been Champion of Chamadarst, and was still in a way although stripped of his powers, felt confident that she'd know of him.

"I was wondering, if I can be of service in anyway? If I might be of use to you in some way, please allow me to avail myself." Woe looked for the to-be-wed couple, wondering what they might be up to, and where they were. "I understand you're to preside as Vowbinder, and that obviously necessitates a great deal of focus. Should there be anything you need done elsewhere, I might help."

Woe waited to see what she said, giving her a small smile.