Legend of Ransera

The network of Rift Gates that had unbound their original empire were gone, but the elves were still masters of translocation. Especially for the powerful, travel was no undue strain. As such, Princess Akantha's attendance at Prince Skärlon's nameday party was expected. All she had to do was walk through a portal. So long as she wasn't wearing a pair of her ballet boots, she ought to be fine.

Any event that brought the entirety of the Court of Princes together was well-guarded, magically and otherwise, and attracted the wealthy and the powerful like moths to a flame. Skärlon's court was spartan compared to that of the royal capital, but that was befitting the duties of his family.

Akantha was in all things fashionable, and that evening, she was fashionably late. Barely into her rounds, she noticed her father speaking rather animatedly—for him—with Prince Salmakis Val'Mystra and some lucky woman who had managed to engage two princes regnant in a private conversation. The woman's back was to the princess, and so she could only admire the cut of her dress, which clung to her body in a way that made the most of few curves.

She caught her father's eye and his green eyes flashed with new pleasure as he raised a hand to beckon her over. As she approached, she felt a keening against her arcane senses, which she would recognize as the signature of an artefact used to preserve the identity in a myriad of ways. When she strode into its field, she saw why: from the woman's back sprouted white wings, their golden patina gilt with platinum paint to match what she now saw was a dress made of the most delicate scale mail. It looked almost as if it were fashioned from mithril, but even Akantha wouldn't dare ask for so queenly a gift upon her nameday.

A fellow flesh-worker, then. Wings weren't terribly difficult to fashion once one had attuned to birds, though the amount of reworking of the musculature of the chest and back, the ridiculous wingspan required for flight made it less common than one might imagine. She was a tiny thing, too. But her clever work made her look almost like a diminutive Avialae woman if such a thing existed.

As the woman turned Akantha's eyes were drawn to the delicate scale mail cowl, fringed with a sort of veil made of stylized blades. One would hope they weren't sharp, glittering as they were before pale blue eyes. The woman bowed to Akantha, while Akantha's father merely cleared his throat meaningfully. He needn't have bothered, of course. Salmakis was a Maker and had also been beguiled by the misleading simplicity of her party attire.

But Ailuin wasn't going to introduce her until Akantha had greeted the king and prince who outranked the strange woman.

Ailuin and Salmakis nodded to her.

"Your Highness," the prince greeted, their speaking voice of a lovely timbre. Sometimes, they sang publicly, although it depended upon their mood.


"Look closer, Daughter," Ailuin suggested, even as the mail-glad lady bowed low to the princess. "This is Lady Kala of House Leukos, Vice-Minister of Finance from Kalzasi. My lady, may I present my daughter, Princess Akantha." Her house needn't be reiterated; she was his daughter.

As Kala rose, she brought down some of her semblance wards, enough for Akantha to sense what all those wards were for: she was Avialae. There were no known Avialae since Garel the Necromancer had disappeared. A political animal, Akantha would immediately suss the need for secrecy. The Gelerian Imperium would break international law for such a creature on the off chance that she would strengthen their slave army.

She would also sense the occasional work of aeromancy to keep her metallic gown draping just so. Though the cowl hid her ears, she was clearly not of elven blood--at least, not within recent ancestry, and despite humanity being an unfortunate branch from the Hytori trunk. Still, her father must have been quite impressed to have invited her to such a party and invest such magical precautions on her behalf rather than sending her to while away the nighttime hours in the Enclave.

"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Your Highness," she said smoothly, her voice soft, yet audible over the noise of the other guests. "And I thank you. Your royal father was kind enough to have a portal opened to Kalzasi so I could fetch it. I was not anticipating the need." Pale blue eyes traveled over Akantha's gown as well, curious, intrigued. Her face was likely too open for a successful diplomat, but she didn't bother to hide her own appreciation.

"Now I know I will have to come prepared if ever I am so fortunate as to return. You look stunning." It was succinct, but sincere. "And... well... the wings are a long story. The former Queen-Regent wanted to protect me, and our current Shokaze attempts the same. I do try to comply with their wishes, but what good are wings if a woman isn't allowed to spread them from time to time?"

The princes chuckled.

"Her twin is currently giving our winged soldiers a run for their money in the aerial agility courses," Ailuin supplied. "Lady Kala shows enough of an innate sense of decorum that I thought to allow her an inside look at our revelries. Also, I thought you might enjoy her wardrobe."

"It would be hubris, I think," Kala replied, "to call myself a connoisseur, but I have become an appréciateur, at least. My brother and I grew up rather isolated in the Astralar Mountains. I know the traditions and history of costume and dress for the people of Starfall, as well as... well, constantly outdated fashions from Kalzasi. House Leukos tends to keep to itself."

The princes smiled quietly to each other and, quite possibly, kept up a running commentary within the sanctity of their minds. Neither interrupted, though, nor seemed upset as the young lady monologued on the special interest.

"At eighteen, we were sent to Kalzasi to further our educations and to take up some of the family affairs, and as a relatively cosmopolitan city, I was exposed to a great deal more. I was a dancer in my youth, and so I frequently attend the Golden Peacock Theater, and my recent work within the Ministry has allowed for more travel and more exposure as well. Perhaps someday I will qualify as a connoisseur. And..."

She glanced askance at the king.

"Well, my trip wasn't planned to be long at all, but some of that depends on His Majesty's ministers, as well." She smiled, hoping she would leave with at least a tenuous trade agreement. While she could understand the Hytori reticence to interact with the outside world--after all, Starfall was insular to protect its own secrets; how much more would the remnants of the Boundless Empire hold?--she did think it could be a mutually beneficial arrangement. "But I am also only a portal away."

Whether a portal was opened by some Hytori traveler or they gave Indric a travel key through their wards, the distance between them was really nothing.

"And I would be delighted to see your flight nook. No doubt my brother Kaus is currently inviting the entirety of your winged army to train with us in our mountains." Her smile was fond for her twin, of course, but she knew him better than anyone did.

"The veil hearkens back to the tribal headdresses of the mountain people my family rules," she said. "And there is a silk cloak that goes with this dress... A silver just a shade or two darker to offset the sheen of the metal. Silk isn't warm enough for the mountains, but the cut is similar to mountain cloaks, especially ceremonial ones. The dress itself is more contemporary, more cosmopolitan. Our traditions favor interesting silhouettes; something this form-fitting would be rare. The family runeforger worked with a Kalzasern seamstress to make the... fabric. Delicate work, but they are masters of their crafts. Thankfully, it does not pinch."

The veil obscured, but did not hide. Her smile at the plot to extend her stay was genuine.

"I would not mind extended negotiations, especially if they lead to mutually beneficial agreements."

As for the climate of the Astralar Mountains, "If my studies of geology haven't failed me, our mountains are younger than yours, so there hasn't been as much time to wear down their sharp edges. Summers are brief, although we hadn't a summer at all this year. Our wardings aren't as extensive as those of Sol'Valen, but neither is our population so great. One valley was warded for crops, and our greenhouses were fortified. Our people have gone lean, but not starved. Thankfully, spring has sprung and we hope those hardships are behind us for the time being. But certainly, the air currents in our mountains prove treacherous. Perhaps that is why my brother's agility in the air outstrips that of many of the Skyguard. But every place has its own weather. There are challenges to deserts and seas and all. I am still learning them myself.

"We were happy to find your Avialae so well-integrated into Hytori society. So much of our focus—other than upon the Synnekar—has been on the injustice done to our Kathar kin. In Kalzasi, I was Avialae first and human second, before and after I had wings. Here, they are Hytori first and Avialae as an afterthought, which seemed strange at first, but only because it was a new perspective."

"The people of Starfall do seem resourceful," Ailuin noted, ostensibly to Salmakis, though they weren't excluding princess and foreign lady. He did not deign to comment upon the westerly empire.

"With admirable craftspeople," Salkmakis agreed, a Maker who appreciated how much effort and expertise went into both women's attire. When they found themself speaking only to Akantha, fashion was generally their point of inception. The prince understood aesthetics and was fundamentally interested in how such aesthetics were engineered.

"I thank Your Highnesses for your esteem," she said graciously, deftly adapting to the changing circumstances of rank within Sol'Valen. Here in Aerion as a guest at a royal party, he was more the prince of Tronóridan, equal of Salmakis, Skärlon, Achiroë, and the others than their sovereign. Indeed, if anyone was paid deference in Aerion, it was the twins Val'Kor. There were even some circumstances in which the princely players we called Sol'Hytori in their own realms, but this was no such event.

She wanted to follow up on Akantha's moral outrage, wondering if she might ever be able to enlist these sovereign princes to levy their power to at least negotiate the release of willing Hytori-Avialae. This would not solve her problem, which was the entirety of her Kathar cousins, but it would be a great victory. Now was not the time, though. Patience was a virtue and Mother Naori was teaching her the long-view of the divine. It was painful, but necessary.

For now, she would do her best to charm as diplomats were wont to do, even if trade negotiations bored many a soul. Kala rather wondered if she would ever meet Avenna herself, even if the Hytori eschewed the aven and the Guild of Coin. The young Avialae could appreciate the elves wanting to do things their own way, though she did hope they would relax enough to engage in more permanent communication and trade with the outside world. History focused on battles, but she had read the drier ones and knew that economic pressure could be used with more elegance than armies.

"Well, Starfall is not opulent, but the mountains are harsh taskmasters and I would agree with Your Highness that it has made us resourceful. But I would happily share our humble hospitality with friends from abroad."