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E Duobus Unum

Posted: Mon Dec 18, 2023 4:40 pm
by Finn
Regnum Regis Regum, Ætherium
3rd of Frost, Year 123 of Steel



If it was strange to be wed outside time and space, it was stranger still to prepare for a wedding outside time and space. Finn had known Talon Novalys before he was Arcas reborn, Dæmon in Solunarium. He had known magic from a young age—the witchwork of his grandmother, the magic of Kalzasi, and even the omnipresent magic of the Jewel of Atraxia. He worked with the specific branch of the Vigilia that dealt with matters divine and beyond the ken of most mortals. Still and all, after politics and dragonfire, here he was in an opulent room with Vrædyn Princeps and Raithen Dux, the other favorites of his patron god, as well as servants that were decidedly neither human nor elven. He didn't even know if the room had existed before Deus Aværys thought it ought to exist or not.

Somewhere, perhaps in Varvara's own realm or another corner of her brother's, Arvælyn was similarly ensconced with—well, he presumed with Phocion and with his own spiritual slaves. He didn't know. He hadn't seen his amatus since the day before. Finn had fasted, bathed in medicinal waters, and been beaten by birch wood faggots to purify himself for what none could deny would be a holy sacrament. Food and rest had been sacrificed to Varvara, and he found himself surprisingly alert.

No doubt after the ceremony, the reception, and the consummation, he would fall into a bit of a restorative coma, but even if Solunarium was never truly cold, back home, this was the beginning of the season where animals hibernated, where things died in preparation of spring's rebirth.

Finn wasn't entirely sure what the ceremony would entail, what the hall would look like—he hadn't even seen himself in the mirror yet. He and Arvælyn were some of the Divine Twins' favorite pawns and it seemed they would have it their way. That was fine; once Aværys had offered the locale, any idea of planning had gone out of Finn's mortal mind. They had provided a guest list, though he wondered if their divine hosts wouldn't have made additions or deletions. It wasn't like the affianced couple could gainsay them.

Somewhere, he supposed, the guests were waiting. As far as he knew, he was the only mortal who could open a portal here—though Aværys could shut the door in his face—but he wasn't in charge of transportation. Family, friends, princes, and potentates—this was quite a bit more than the simple handfasting he had always imagined for himself.

"Well, so... how do I look?" he asked, turning for Vrædyn and Raithen. He half expected Aværys to demand the right of first night, but that would be something to worry about—or look forward to—after the festivities.

Re: E Duobus Unum

Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2023 12:06 pm
by Arvælyn
Image

► Show Spoiler
"How do you look? Why, you look as though the Sceptre that mounts the skies o'er Atraxia could stand to learn your lesson in lustre." Vrædyn offered with a wry smirk. His was whimsical hyperbole, but such was expected in these moments.

"But how do you feel?"

Elsewhere in this radiant palace, the main branch of Gens Phædryn were gathered in another chamber where servants and artisans were seeing to the royal bridegroom. Phocion stood contentedly beside a window, enjoying a very striking new vista. Valæra stood at his side, though her focus was upon her half-brother standing on a pedestal as a fussy tailor barked minute instructions to their underlings. Cithæra stood in front of Arvælyn, just a step down from his platform.

"Are there any traditions I ought to observe that haven't been broached?"

"This sort of marriage is anathema in Solunarium, so you're breaking ground as far as all that is concerned. I understand Finn was worried about some Northern tradition known as a 'pre-nuptial agreement', but our laws are already much clearer on these matters so there is no need for it..."

"There is one draconic tradition you might consider..." From the door, Zalkyriax's voice travelled to meet them as he strode at the head of a procession of his kin, all in their winged, platinum elven seemings. The elves and humans present began to lower themselves to the floor, but with a wave of his hand and a thought projected into the æther of the room, they would know such formalities were being dismissed for the moment.

"I understand your amatus is eager to utter words in our ancient tongue. If there is aught in his vows you wish to make binding, let him speak it in the Lingua Draconum and he will be preternaturally tethered to the dictum."

"I do not wish to be deceitful, Pater..."

"Not should you be. There is no need for deception. The terms of a marriage should be set clearly and it would be a terrible thing for one to defy a Draconic Dictum unwittingly and face those consequences unprepared. But if Finn would truly comprehend our language, this would be a sterling lesson..."

"Can't I just trust him?"

"Can you?"

Re: E Duobus Unum

Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2024 7:15 pm
by Finn
"Nervous," Finn admitted with a chuckle. "Not of Arvælyn, truly, or being on display. I am half-expecting His Exalted Majesty or our Rex Regum to pull a few surprises out of their... well, they don't wear hats..."

Ciarán came in as Raithen went out. The young human looked as though his eyebrows were attempting to merge with his hairline. As much as this place mimicked their material plane, there were hints everywhere that it was most decidedly not, and he had much less experience in the wider world than Finn did, let alone the wider realm in which their wide world was but an onionskin page in a strange scripture.

"I feel as though this day would be surreal enough," he said, shooting a smile at his baby brother before returning it to his brother-in-majesty, "but then Our Lord offered to hold it here. I wonder how many conservative hardliners are gnashing their teeth in their merely golden palaces today." But he didn't smirk about it or think about it for too long. He was hardly vengeful—much to Khyan's consternation.

Ciarán may or may not have been looking at Varvara, imagining what she might do to him with chains, and then having her look him directly in the eye—and through to his soul. But he managed to gather his words.

"I, ah... uhm, I mean, I think... it's... it's time, Finn." He coughed into his fist, then straightened his own robes, finer than anything he had ever owned and cut in Kalzasern fashion albeit for Ecithian heat. "You, uh..." He managed a shyly proud smile. "You look good, frater."

If he wasn't as florid as the princeps, he was entirely heartfelt. Ciarán couldn't look at the paterfamilias of gens Vlahos-Sol’Aværys for very long either, assuming he too would know what impure thoughts ran through his mind.

Though Arvælyn wasn't here present, he could feel something strange in his symphony; he steeled himself not to delve too deeply into it. Let him have his secrets a little while longer. Certainly, the full extent of this day remained a secret to him even if he had a good idea what the night would bring if they were not exhausted. Finn paused, glanced to Vrædyn and then the door.

"Do we just... go? Or does Our Lord have a divine master of the revels who will direct us?" He laughed again. For all that he and his prince were taking their future into their own hands, it certainly felt as though the day was out of his hands. That was well enough. He would get to make vows with Arvælyn before everyone they loved; that was enough.

Re: E Duobus Unum

Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2024 3:10 pm
by Arvælyn
Image

“Yes.” Arvælyn replied, after a beat.

“Very well, but the option will remain available should the need arise.” Zalkyriax noted.

“Your peace of mind is important to the realm.” Cithæra added with solemn emphasis.

“The guests have all congregated in the great hall.” Valæra informed them.

“Well, then, perhaps we should begin the procession before Prince Arkænyn’s attempts to ingratiate himself to the Founders grow too humiliating…” Proposed Phocion.

“Finn’s family will begin the procession, followed by Raithen leading our Phædryn contingent. Arvælyn, you will follow the Zalkyrians and proceed to meet Finn at the altar.”

“Wait, am I the bride?”

“What? No. You are the ranking member of the couple.” Cithæra replied with an arched brow.

“It’s a suspense thing for your public,” Phocion explained, “Or perhaps a grace period afforded you to gulp down one last fortifying cocktail.”

“Princely privilege, innit?” Arry offered through a nervous smile.

“Indeed.” Cithæra pivoted toward the door, “Let us proceed. The procession march is striking up…”

► Show Spoiler

The Great Hall of the Palatium Majestatis was striking to even eyes that had seen as much as Cithæra’s. The full-blooded dragons showed no particular sign of being awed, but everyone else present was completely stricken by the vista before them. It was somewhere between a ballroom and a stadium, with strange stars and satellites looming large in a lavender sky.

At the far end of the ornate atrium, a large altar stood upon an empty dais surrounded by an honour guard of Platinum Sentinels with dragon helms and halberds forged of magmatyte.

All rose as Finn’s kin kicked off the procession. Arkænyn wondered to himself whether the human bard needed to use his Mesmer to keep them moving gracefully to the slow rhythm of the march.

The Phædryns upheld their stoical serene personæ which only the Zalkyrians could exceed, as the five pale dragons in winged elven form strode with the grace of the ancients who mounted the skies of a fledgling world. By and by, the relations at the head of the procession split off to take their seats of honour around the daïs.

As the music crescendoed and Arvælyn reached the altar and his betrothed, two dots of light descended from the heavens and expanded into the forms of the Founders, each standing twelve feet in height on the far side of the altar before which Finn and Arvælyn stood. It seemed, at long last, the ceremony was upon them.

Re: E Duobus Unum

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2024 6:47 pm
by Finn
Lystreia's voice as the first he could separate from the chorus that greeted him in the main hall of the divine venue and he smiled even though he had been schooled to a more Solunarian stoicism. The day belonged to him, and to Arvælyn; he could smile if he wanted to.

He was radiant in raiment as well as in mien, and radiant were the smiles of his family and his friends. It was all more than he had hoped for, and also just enough to express the boundless feelings he had for Arvælyn somehow trapped within his breast without bursting out from day to day. For all the luminaries and sights to behold, as soon as he saw his dragon prince, everything else rather faded from his attention.

From the audience, a certain red-headed bastard circumvented certain protections, tickling his own Rune of Masquerade in such a way that Arvælyn could feel it as he processed past. While the fox-faced confidence man might have been irked to sit so far from where the action would happen, he was also more used to existing on the periphery. One only wanted attention when it benefited one, after all.

Finally, Arvælyn was there. Finn took his hand, and they turned toward their larger-than-life Gods. They made their obeisance together, as was fitting. An Empyreal Lord bowed to his Rex Regum, who bowed to Eikæn Magnus. A Prince of Dragons bowed to the Mistress of Chains, who bowed to Domina Naori in turn.

Now, his consciousness expanded out to include the dragons and the gods, the elves and the humans, and even the flicker of a spirit of vengeance somewhere around, perhaps a little gift from his God. If only he could serve Khyan his desired meal at the reception to follow.

Re: E Duobus Unum

Posted: Mon Jun 03, 2024 5:05 pm
by Arvælyn
Image

As the ceremony commenced, the Divine Twins lent some of Their Divine preternatural lustre to Their chosen. Using the emblems of the Betrothed as conduits, They endowed the pair with the breathtaking Majesty of being encompassed in Holy Nimbi.

Unprecedented in the annals of Solunarian history, this wedding ceremony would incorporate ancient traditions that predated the founding of the Sacred Solunarian Empire, but it was not recited by rote. Perforce the rite had to be updated, and the fact that the Divine Twins deigned to preside over such a break from tradition was not lost upon the more savvy political animals present. They had been quite hands-off since their return, seeming to prefer to let the power struggles between the two royal houses play out sans Divine intervention. Still, it had not been lost on anyone in either royal family that there were three Emblems freshly conferred onto Umbrians, with only one having been bequeathed unto a prince of the Sanguinist faction.

Despite the ponderous portents, it was difficult to focus overmuch on subtext when Aværys’ holy presence subtly commanded one to be attentive to His oratory. At least He allowed the betrotheds the presence of mine to participate in their own ceremony where appropriate. The whole affair might have lasted three hours or thirty seconds, but by the end there was a flush of gratitude that spread through the bulk of the audience— a sense that they were honoured to have borne witness to such a blessed event. Moreover, perhaps as a final wedding present from the Twins, as the couple shared their first kiss as husbands, those present who arrived opposed to the pairing would leave the ceremony free of any such doubts or aversions. Even the arch Arkænyn and his fundamentalist Sanguinist consilium were obliged to defer to His Holy Will.

Parting from the kiss, Arvælyn smiled feeling fulfilled religiously. It was almost akin to the way he’d felt receiving sacrifices on behalf of the Twins, but different— better, insomuch as it was more personal. The Chains were relaxed and he was allowed to accept this moment as his own, rather than on Her behalf.



As they stood forth united in matrimony, there was a shift. The nimbi of the Twins interwove and expanded to encompass the daïs and the couple, more radiant united as was this dual nimbus. Aværys spoke, his voice resonating as if amplified into the very minds of the onlookers. As if every atom that existed in His realm served to resonate with His word.

“Populi Solinariani, chosen children of a mighty lineage, long have ye rested inert. Now I say unto thee that the Battle of the Rending marked not the end of our Holy War, but rather punctuated its first phase. Thou art the scions of Solunarium Invictus, for We cannot have lost a war that rageth yet across this embattled world.

“I hope thou hast rested well, electi Mei, for the time hath come to rise and rage once more. There are many ways to wage and win a war, and that which We would have thee excite is the very summit of Ambition. We do not expect thee to crusade as did thine ancestors, but We command thee to tame the wilderness of civilisation whether by scourge or sceptre.

“Thou art the puissant pow’rs of Our formidable flock, and what We and this ceremony demonstrate, is that unity confereth potency. As these two souls stand forth united and strengthened for their bond, so must ye reunify: Human, Elf, Dragon and Deity must be once more aligned that we may bring alignment to greater Ransera. Thou dost vie o’er one plot of land, when an unconquered planet spreadeth before thee abroad of Atraxian sands. Go forth and claim that which lieth in misery and disarray. Bring balance and contentment to the beleaguered souls who were not blessed as ye who were born beneath the Atraxian Sun, but were blighted to be born in realms where the people know not their place within the great pyramid that ruleth o’er God and Man.

“Tonight, make ye merry and celebrate this union of Our Chosen, an if ye forge thine own alliances amidst the revelry, then wake tomorrow in recognition of thy Holy Purpose and collude with thy kinsmen and constituents to see it betide!”

Re: E Duobus Unum

Posted: Wed Jun 05, 2024 1:37 pm
by Finn
Review


Experience: 10 xp for use at your discretion

Injuries: N/A

Loot: +1 hot husband

Notes: It's official. Let the wedding night commence!