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Post by Lord Newbury on Jan 21, 2018 15:18:55 GMT
Problems on the Border King Ferdinnd Du Valdez VKing of Aladez, Warden of the Eternal CityArthur Du Grimbold looked as his most apostolic majesty played with what appeared to be a toy knight. He had bashed it against the side of the carriage more times that he could count, clapping when he did so. The Diplomat was beginning to wonder if one could tell a king to shut it - however he had his inkling that would not end all that well. Finally, the carriage came to a halt as the capital of Aquitainia came into sight. ”Why are we stop?” the King screamed, turning to his mother for answers. Arthur decided to not get involved, and stepped out of the carriage. In total, the Kings retinue consisted of some five-hundred of the Kings Guard Regiment, the Queen-Mother and her detachment, Arthur himself, and then the forces of the Galatone Duchy, lead by a man who Arthur had spent most of the journey trying his best to avoid. ”You.” Arthur flagged down a horseman ”Send for the Duke of Galatone and instruct him to form his men up,” he ordered ”...then send for the Aquitainian Duke, and then....ask the Regent what to do I suppose?” he gestured to the City before them. The horseman went about his duties, and Arthur stopped, taking it all in. Today had the stench of history about it. OOC - Open to Billbo, Fyremage, Asinity and Zoilus. This takes place around a fortnight after the conclusion of the Conference of Valdez. |
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Post by Zoilus on Jan 21, 2018 18:21:10 GMT
The Archbishop and Regent Eleazar V of Galatone felt good, triumphant. He was riding, armored, beside the sworn knights of the duchy and its Church, come to bring Aquitainia back into the fold or teach it the error of its ways. In the days of the Old Kingdom, Aquitania had long been Galatone's rival, for the favor of the Valdez, for wealth, for prestige...but no more. Their fool of duke had destroyed it all in a fit of pique, and now he would submit or be destroyed, and in either case, Aquitania would suffer corrective penalties.
They had nearly reached the capital, Thyria, when a rider from from Grimbold came up beside him. "My lord requests that you form up your forces, your Excellency. Keep them prepared, but nothing else for now."
"As was planned and agreed. Tell him it isn't an issue." As the rider rode back, Eleazar fumed, the gall of the babysitter. As if he didn't know why he was here? The Archbishop turned to his direct subordinates, his sworn Grandmasters:
"Set down camp there," he said, pointing out a likely area, "and set up minor fortifications. Once it's done, order the men to armor up and stay prepared for anything. The minds of traitors and heretics can be unpredictable, no?"
The Grandmasters nodded, despite their full-plate helms, and Eleazar dismissed them, "Remember: Artis is with us!"
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Post by Asinity on Jan 22, 2018 2:25:03 GMT
The Queen Mother, Elija du Valdez y Vyre, looked upon her child with a contained patience. She'd raised enough children to know when and how to respond to an unruly child, as well as to know how to elicit the responses she wanted from them. Yet still, she had been more than relieved when the boy had returned to her. It was hard to even think of punishing him in recent days since he'd been back. With a gentle touch on the boy's shoulder, she offered a warm smile.
"We're going to meet one of your mother's friends," she explained to the budding monarch. "Duke Elric."
Friends indeed, she thought. It had been weeks since her late husband's death, and fate had made certain it would be no easy transition. Whether or not she had been married to King Ferdinand for the sake of better relations between Vyre and Valdez, she had grown to love him despite that reality. He had passed, however, and the nation had been thrown into chaos. For a moment, she had been certain of her imprisonment, yet here she was, leading her once missing child to see firsthand what it was like to make hard decisions. Yet he was still too young to properly understand, of course.
The northern duchies had broken off from the nation of Aledez, and claimed independence. Aquitania was a wild card, at best. Elric had spoken at the conference of his willingness to pledge allegiance to the rightful ruler of House Valdez, once they'd been crowned, but the Regency had been enacted by her son's hand. Elija ruled alongside Juan-Carlos, though their relationship was touchy at best, venomous at the worst. Elija had seen her husband rule for years, however, and had given him more than her fair share of advice during that time. She was confident in her abilities as Regent, though this recent situation with Aquitania would test her.
After the cart had been stopped, the Queen Mother was helped out of the carriage, along with her son. Leading him along by the hand, Elija was escorted to Arthur du Grimbold. When she was within speaking distance, the blonde-haired, pale-skinned woman offered the man a respectful nod.
"Thank you for aiding me in this, Arthur," she enthused. "I know not how we will be received, but I believe we have brought more than enough to make certain the Duke will see the appropriate action. I want this to be as peaceful as possible. With Galatone here, he'll hopefully get the point."
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Post by TheCalmOne on Jan 23, 2018 3:57:06 GMT
Thyria, Captial of Aquitania and Seat of House Aquitane
Elric Aquitane stood upon the city walls as he watched the Aladez-Galatone host approach. He couldn't say he was surprised, to be honest. The Aladez ambassador's parting words during the conference in Aladeen may have meant something else, but Elric, being the man that he was, took it as a threat. As such, the military had been marshaled and mercenaries had been given an initial sum of money in the case of battle immediately upon his return to Aquitania. To be honest, Elric doubted that it would come to a battle. Prince Juan wouldn't risk a war with the other major nations if he was still regent - and if he wasn't anymore, then Elric would have no reason not to repledge his loyalty to the House of Valdez. (OOC - note that Elric has not yet heard of Elija becoming regent and Juan losing his title)
Still, it never hurt to be prudent. That is, after all, how Aquitania had become strong in the first place. Thus, the entire Aquitanian army had been called up - save for the contingent of Silver Guard that held the Golden Fortress - alongside a force of one thousand mercenaries that had responded the promise of wealth. A total of 15,000 soldiers resided inside the city and a well fortified military camp just outside of it.
"Mi'lord," the officer next to him spoke up, "we've received a summons from the enem-"
"Don't call them the enemy, soldier. They are not." Elric interrupted the man. Not yet, at least.
"My apologies. We've received a summons from the approaching host."
Elric remained quiet and watched the Galatone army set up camp a good distance away from the city. The fortifications were textbook-perfect, of course, but there didn't seem to be any overt aggressiveness in their actions.
"Very well, let us go see who rules Aladez, then." He descended the wall and climbed atop his horse, then, accompanied by a honor guard of fifty of his best knights, rode out towards the other camp.
As he approached, he thought over his options. War would be the worst case scenario - one that he wished to avoid. If Prince Juan was still regent however...
He ended that train of thought as they reached the camp. Taking a deep breath, he spoke,
"Hail friends. I see you've brought many guests on your trip to Aquitania."
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Post by Lord Newbury on Jan 24, 2018 15:48:41 GMT
There was a limit as to what the diplomat could do, for it was not his mission, nor of his rank to command in a situation such as this. He merely waved as the riders approached from the City, and said nothing.
OOC - I can post longer items when we are doing ze chat.
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Post by Asinity on Jan 30, 2018 4:04:38 GMT
As Elric and his retinue made their way to the Regent, her son Ferdinand, and Arthur du Grimbold, a path was made for them. Dismounted, with her hands clasped in front of her and a crown on her head, Queen Elija du Valdez y Vyre inclined her chin as she inhaled a deep breath.
"Many guests indeed," she repeated. "Hail and welcome, Duke Elric of Aquitania. I hope the day finds you well."
The middle-aged, blonde-haired woman allowed a breath to pass between them, which made the near-motionless knights beside her seem rather lifeless.
"I'm glad to hear you made it safely to the Conference at Aladeen," the woman enthused. "I was briefed upon the discussions that were had there, and I'm relieved to hear that Aquitania will once again pledge its loyalty to the House of Valdez. You may be pleased to know that I have been reaffirmed as Regent of Aladez until my son is old enough to assume his father's mantle as King."
Elija, gestured toward her son, who was standing next to her.
"I had heard that Aquitania was awaiting a 'legitimate' document, 'written and signed' by the rightful ruler of Aladez, before it would renew its vows to the crown," she continued, and displayed a practiced absence of emotion. "That is why we have come, Duke Elric."
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Post by Zoilus on Jan 30, 2018 21:53:30 GMT
Archbishop Eleazar, still on his horse a good distance away, could hear the Queen-Mother's words, and couldn't help the feeling of bile rising in his throat. Would she really allow this traitor to simply speak his vows again, and pretend nothing had happened? Galatone had stood firm behind the Eternal City, hadn't conspired with foreigners and the rebels in the North, and even now marched with her to restore order- would she give Aquitania the same status?! Eleazar clenched his teeth, but his horse reached the meeting sight quickly.
"Queen-Mother!" he said, before giving her a customary bow, "I apologize for my delayed arrival, but organizing your forces took some time. I see that the traitor has come to us! Would you like me to arrest him? If we can avoid a siege, that would be for the best, no?"
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Post by TheCalmOne on Feb 22, 2018 1:39:49 GMT
As he reached the Valdezian retinue, Elric and his guard quickly dismounted. He waited for Elija to finish speaking before nodding his head,
"Indeed. Aquitania has no wish to secede from Aladez. We only strive to see the rightful rulers of House Valdez lead us."
He made to continued, but was interrupted by the unwelcome presence of whom he assumed to be the Archbishop of Galatone. While Elric had held a deep respect for his father, he possessed no such feelings for the Archbishop. Thus, instead of continuing with that his previous train of thought, he turned and addressed the younger man,
"I find it amusing to have you accuse anyone of treason, boy. The honorable late Duke of Galatone ought to be turning in his grave right now."
He dismissively turned back towards Elija, and spoke so that only she and those immediately around her could hear,
"Allow me to speak frankly... For what it's worth, I truly did respect your late husband, and I would be overjoyed to see his legacy thrive. However, It would be a shame if that disgraceful Juan Carlos remained regent."
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