COUNCIL MEETING 12/23/2011

[Roxilicious]

ooc pre-meeting notes–
attendees: the Emperor & Empress, the Celestial Council, all Kings and Queens, all Counts and Countesses, and all four Court Mystics to sit beside the King
discussion topic: rumors of Grand Heyvans flying the skies of Osoa, one town destroyed by an alleged Heyvan
resolved discrepancies: liquid time allowed for attendees!
Rox's attendees: King Falkor Nightingale (Verfall), Countess Roxanna Nightingale (Pertinax), Valkyrie Odegard (Celestial Council), Count Sarkis Nightingale, Queen Ri'ravi Zahrasha (Hegatzi)

Glacialis 23, 1593, around 9 hours after midnight
Temple of the Six, Regal District, Celestial City, Resmir

Heavy wings flap-landed outside the Temple of the Six. King Falkor was quick to dismount his sister's dragon; there was something tense in the air whenever he had to interact with Arkadios. He got the notion that the dragon just didn't like him.

The King shoved open the doors to the Temple and quickly found his seat next to the throne for the Queen of Resmir.

Roxanna, on the other hand, took her grand time. She cooed at her lovely Arkadios, stroking his head and giving him words of praise from the long night flight. The vampiress heaved a dead cow out of the saddle on his back and threw it onto the ground in front of him. The inanimate ungulate had been rotting the entire ride, though the chilly weather had done a nice job of slowing that process.

She leaped from the saddle and landed with natural elegance. "Just be back by nightfall, darling," she said with a baby voice, once again stroking the face of her blind companion. His white, unseeing eyes closed as an expression of dragon glee crossed his face. Arkadios caterwauled after finishing his cow in a single gulp and took to the skies after all of his passengers had dismounted.

As Countess Roxanna entered the mighty Temple, another dragon landed outside of it. This one was Eldingar, the loyal dragon to Count Sarkis Nightingale of Tenesidus. Sarkis was accompanied by his wife, Wynona. As he dismounted, a pale, glowing yellow light slowly encircled a new entity. Queen Ri'ravi Zahrasha teleported herself to the Temple with ease.

"Greetings, Count Sarkis and Countess Wynona," she said with a tone of slight irritation. It wasn't directed toward the Tenesidus leaders; it was just the consequence of her dislike for Council Meetings. Queen Ri'ravi nodded her respects to the couple before entering the Temple and taking her place beside the empty throne for the King of Hegatzi. Sarkis followed in her path.

The inside of the Temple was intricate with beautiful paintings and marble statues. Very few had arrived, leaving little room for small talk. The only ones who had arrived held feelings of tension between each other. Sarkis sighed, sitting in his throne around the circular table. The grandest throne, of course, was taken by the Emperor who was just making his way into the temple, followed by his Empress. She sat to his right, next to the thrones for the King and Queen of Resmir. Sarkis saw his nephew look past the two empty seats and glance at Remiel with shifty eyes.

To the left of the Emperor came the thrones for the King and Queen of Asteria, followed by the Hegatzan thrones. Filling the rest of the circle were the traditional thrones of the Counts and Countesses, labeled appropriately depending on which county they ruled. They were grouped by province.

[Holly]

Holly's attendees: Court Mystic Holly Skies (Verfall), Count Hale Stone (Vesperian Badlands), Marika Coy (Celestial Council), Count Logan Cordell (Auster Plains), Countess Wynona Nightingale (Tenesidus), Countess Meera Wilder (Siar), Countess Dawn Heartphelia (Kiesan)

Holly wasn't right at King Falkor's heels, nor did she stay behind with Countess Roxanna. She kept firmly in the middle so that Falkor wouldn't be bothered by her being too close and so Roxanna could spend some time with Arkadios. Calmly walking in a few seconds after her King, she took the seat next to him. Part of her was excited because this was her first council meeting, but that also came with sadness. The only reason she was here was because Aria was not.

And then a small part of her was just nervous as hell because she was sitting next to Falkor. Don't do something stupid. Don't do something stupid.

As Eldingar landed, Wynona wondered how she was going to get down from the saddle. She heard someone greet her and her husband and she nodded in the direction she thought they were located, but her attention was more on the fact that she couldn't see the ground. Something wrapped her waist before she had much time to think.

"Don't worry, Countess Wynona! I got you!" Dawn chirped, carrying the woman down thanks to air manipulation and the lesser angel's wings. Safely down on the ground, the countess of Kiesan beamed and made her wings disappear. "Thought you could use some help."

"Thank you, Countess Dawn," Wynona smiled back, unable to see the fellow ruler, but knowing it was her just by her voice. They both made her way into the Temple, Wynona taking her spot next to Sarkis (with some more help with Dawn) and then Dawn finding her spot on the opposite side from the Emperor.

Landing just moments after Eldingar was a guard dragon from the Auster Plains. On board were Logan and Keitaro. Logan smirked at his friend and leapt off. Calmly, he waited for the count of Erotza before making his way inside and taking his seat to the right of King Falkor. Per usual, he nodded his head in respect to him. The corner of his lip pulled up in a lopsided grin. "Mystic Holly? You're joining us today?"

"Yes. I am, Count Logan," Holly smiled shyly back, hoping no one would ask why she was there instead of Aria. News should have traveled by then.

"Well then, welcome," Logan greeted warmly.

Meera, Marika, and Hale all appeared by teleportation at different times. Meera was an amatuer at magic, but she managed to make it on time and without much of a problem. It took a couple tries, but she got there. Marika, on the other hand, was an expert of auxilary. She arrived in a saturated blue light and immediately took her seat in one of the celestial council positions. She waved her hand infront of her and an black orb appeared.

White letters formed in the black abyss. "Greetings, everyone", it read in a fancy, looping font.

As for Hale, he appeared in a rush of black smoke and dark light right behind Holly's seat. "Look who's joining us todddaaayyy," He laughed whole-heartedly as he noticed the Mystic jump. Before she could do anything, he ruffled her hair and then he was already over in his seat adjacent to Dawn. He kept beaming because of how flustered the blonde olisthir still was. "You and Countess Roxanna are as lovely as ever, Mystic Skies! And King Falkor, you're more icy than usual, I see!" He called, even though they weren't too far away.

Holly shot a glare at the count of the vesperian badlands, face still red as she smoothed out her hair.

[Sky]

Sky's attendees: King Hunter Valdez (Resmir), Count Keitaro Ketsueki (Valkea Xeros), Court Mystic Calista Celandine (Asteria), Michael Revera (Celestial Council)

Hunter Valdez simply walked in and took his seat, his wife Dahlia following closely behind. He wasn't much of the social type, preferring to stay out of a conversation unless needed. He was a quiet man at heart.

Keitaro, on the other hand, walked in a little more slowly, just a few steps behind Logan. He was mumbling something to himself about having to ride the dragon such a distance and wishing he was in better shape and yada yada yada. Nothing really that anyone should listen to. He shook his head and took his seat across the table from Hale and sat silently, his eyes scanning the small group that had gathered so far.

Michael sighed as he stepped up to the temple. "I'm not really looking forward to this but here we go I guess. This will be...interesting. Wonder why we were all called up for this anyways." Michael walked up and pushed the doors solemnly open, his mood showing how little he really had wanted to be here. He approached the designated seats for the Celestial Council and chose a seat, not really caring at all where he sat for this meeting. He sat down silently, taking off his hat and placing it in his lap, not really sure of what else to do with it.

Calista did what she was best at, wind manipulation to help her fly in a way that most Faeries could not. Landing lightly just outside of the Temple, her bright blue faerie wings shimmering as she folded them neatly to her back. She stepped in, her usual bright smile brightening up the mood seemingly instantly. She spotted Holly and sighed inwardly, knowing that what she had been told by that messenger was true now that she could see so for herself.

She approached Holly, wanting to reassure her in this tragic time, wanting to tell her how much she was sorry about her loss. She winced as she spotted Hale, knowing how little he probably knew about the situation. She stepped up behind the count and tapped his shoulder. "Excuse me Count Hale, I think you should tone down a bit, unless you don't know anything about what has happened in the kingdom you are a part of. In that case than maybe you should ask King Falkor what happened. Good morning Countess Roxanna, you look stunning as ever. Good morning to you too King Falkor. Mystic Holly," Calista bowed her head politely to the younger mystic, "I am sorry to hear about your loss of a mentor. I only recently heard about it, and was also told the location of her body. If you would like I could have it transported to Acerbus Umbra for a proper burial once this meeting is over. I'll be supervising the event myself seeing as Asteria is pretty quiet this time of the year. It you ever need help with anything don't hesitate to send for me. I'll be more than willing to help you in thsi time of need."

[Atra]

Atra's attendees: Countess Atratus Hesita (Falian Lowlands) Navigo Domestica (Celestial Council)

It wasn't a very far distance for the Countess of the Falian Lowlands, not so far that she had to do anything else than shift into her cougar form and set out the day before the meting and simply run at an even pace. Celo had kept her company, and she hadn't felt so free in a long time. Unfortunately, these meetings had a tendancy to be absolutely dreadful, but she was keeping her hopes up as always. She slowed to a trot, and the bundle in her mouth began to bounce rythmically. Finding an area unseen to anyone, she shifted into her human form, unwrapping the bundle and donning an elegant blue and golden gown.

Her heels clicking against the stone street, she made her way through the regal district to the Temple. She nodded politely to the two guards standing outside the doorway, and was rummaging in her elk-fur bag for a few gold coins for them each. "Thank you for your services," she said gratefully, glad there was someone here to keep them all safe, who stood diligently outside for as long as they were inside.

At the same time, right after the last gold coin had clicked into the eager, thankful guards' hands, a drake came darting out of nowhere. He stopeed on a time, and seemed to slouch lower as if depositing something on the ground. Squinting her shiny blue eyes, Atratus saw that this was indeed the case. "Navigo," she greeted warmly. "It's been so long."

"Countess Atratus," Navigo replied equally as warmly, making himself less invisible out of politeness. "Not long enough, I think, so long as we're at these boring meetings." Instead of gliding through the door, he waited for Atratus to nod to the guards again and followed her inside, Demyx lumbering in behind him and Celo trotting pleasantly underneath Demyx's huge body.

The Countess laughed her bell-chime laugh, walking slowly and nodding to all the present members before taking her seat. "Well, maybe something interesting will occur this time." With a gentle, white-gloved finger, she sent Celo back outside so he wouldn't be a nuisance to the members. She watched Navigo also dismiss his huge companion.

The Countess greeted everyone in her usual warm manner, her eyes lingering for just a moment longer on Countess Nightingale, with whom Atratus could not recall a pleasant encounter. Still, she smiled, and folded her gloved hands before her while she quietly waited for everyone to arrive.

[Julianna]

Julianna’s attendees: Queen Dahlia Valdez (Resmir) and Count Kale Stone (Asteria)

A lone raven sailed through the air hurriedly past the grand beast, its destination seeming to be the Temple below that the dragon had just receded from moments before. The bird dove quickly and silently from the early morning sky, obscured without a trace in a nearby tree located near the outside Temple walls.

Deep red eyes surveyed the surroundings for a moment; flickering as they took in the tensions dispersed in the air. The dark bird closed its eyes for a moment, a light unconsciousness washing over its body from the lengthy travel without a pause.

Dahlia smiled brightly as her and her husband, Hunter, arrived at the Temple. “I am always amazed by the beauty of this place.” She remarked softly as they ascended the steps into the grand building. She reached into a pouch secured at her waist, and like Countess Atratus had before her, placed a few coins into the palm’s of the guard’s hands in thanks for their dedication to protecting this majestic place and the ones gathered within the Temple’s walls.

She followed slowly behind Hunter as they stepped into the Temple, her golden hazel eyes widened at the beauty of its inner walls. She had seen the architecture many a time before, but never seemed to be able to get over how breathtaking everything seemed to be. As they entered the room where the council meetings were held, her expression tensed a bit as she took in some of the tensions that lingered in the room. She smiled at all presently accounted for as Hunter and she took their seats alongside the Empress. Dahlia’s eyes slowly shifted around the circular table, taking in the other’s expressions before her eyes finally settled on her hands, which were folded on the table in front of her.

Once the raven opened its eyes, Countess Atratus’ form had just disappeared behind the Temple doors. Everything was eerily silent as a human body swiftly replaced that of the raven. After a moment, the Count of Morningstar descended from the branches, landing in a crouch on the ground below. “…what a lovely way to begin….so much for flying being more convenient…” He muttered to himself as he stood quickly, brushing the dust from his clothes as he headed toward the doors.

The last time he had tried using Auxiliary magic, it had chosen to go on one of its episodes, sending him far from his desired destination. So Kale had decided that instead of having the possibility arise for a meeting like this, he would simply fly himself there, which hadn’t worked so well now.

Kale nodded at the guards as he walked pass them, shoving open the Temple doors and stepping inside. Once inside, he briskly stepped around the table, greeting others as he passed them, this accompanied with a polite smile. Before he sat, he glanced over at his brother, and gave him a warning stare. He had noticed Holly’s flustered expression as he had passed by her, and a gut feeling told him his brother had been the one to cause it.

His red eyes lingered on her for a moment longer than the rest as they trailed around the table, wondering why she was here instead of Aria, whom he had seen at these meetings for the past years. Kale’s eyes then focused on the Emperor and Empress as he waited for the meeting to begin.

[Roxilicious]

Emperor Remiel Naevius IX gazed around the temple with his aged eyes. He sat patiently in his extravagant throne, a pleased serenity radiating from his modest person. As the thrones around the circular table began to fill, he decided there was no time to waste and called the meeting to order.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he croaked. His voice was ancient but full of aged wisdom and a history of honorable experiences from his commitment to Resmir as a militiaman.

"I'm afraid we cannot wait any longer to begin," he announced. "Do not hesitate and further delay the meeting as the others arrive."

Emperor Remiel was silent for a quick moment, allowing his words to settle in for a mere heartbeat. He took a breath, the only sound in the room being the crackling fire behind him.

"It appears that the threatening legends of the Grand Heyvans have become more of a potent reality," the Emperor said. "Queen Ri'ravi, Countess Meera, would you like to share your stories?"

Countess Roxanna flashed a concerned and curious gaze in the direction of her brother and her best friend. Surprisingly enough, King Falkor returned the gaze, an obvious understanding evident between the siblings: if the rumor turned out to be true, they would need to take extra precautions to protect their land.

"Yes, Emperor, thank you," Queen Ri'ravi rasped in her natural voice. There was a catlike hiss to it that made her sound like she was wheezing, but it was fairly common amongst her species. The Queen stood up.

"Kokoro Village, located within the canopy of the Otekah Rainforest in county Siar, has suffered a tremendous loss," she began, bowing her head for a slight moment of silence. "Though the village is small, many died. No one is absolutely certain of the cause, but reports suggest an otherworldly beast, ten thousand times bigger than the local megagators, one which can fly and breathe a hellish fire unlike any dragon's breath. Perhaps only two huts remain unscathed. The rest are crushed or burned, and the villagers are burying the bodies of their deceased friends and family as we speak. Reports claim the alleged monster had a cry so deafeningly loud and wretched that two villagers were shaken from the trees and fell to their deaths."

Queen Ri'ravi grew abruptly silent and looked across the table at Countess Meera. She took her seat quickly.

"Countess," the Emperor said, breaking the silence, "is there anything you'd like to add? Any personal sightings or experiences about this attack?"

Count Sarkis dipped his head and drew a Hexadus over his chest, praying silently for those in Kokoro Village. His niece saw this and sneered in disgust at her uncle. She tried to ignore him and turned her attention to the Countess of Siar.

[Holly]

xx

"I am sorry to hear about your loss of a mentor. I only recently heard about it, and was also told the location of her body. If you would like I could have it transported to Acerbus Umbra for a proper burial once this meeting is over. I'll be supervising the event myself seeing as Asteria is pretty quiet this time of the year. It you ever need help with anything don't hesitate to send for me. I'll be more than willing to help you in this time of need."

Upon something so nice and kind to say, Holly should have smiled at the fellow Mystic and nodded in respect, but this time, all she could do was frown an mutter something inaudibly. At least Hale had the decency to not mention Aria at the meeting. There was no need to over explain what had happened. Holly knew what happened; she didn't need a summary of the whole ordeal all over again. On top of that, Pertinax didn't need someone at a burial who was only coming because "Asteria is pretty quiet this time of the year". And if she wanted help, she would go to people she actually knew.

Stop. Bad thoughts. Even if they are somewhat true, you can't think like that, Holly told herself and turned her attention to the Emperor. She pushed everything else to the back of her mind and listened to... some horrorfying news. The Mystic flicked a glance over to Roxanna, who was already gazing at them as well, before looking up at King Falkor. What was he thinking about this?

Hale perked up, actually seeming interested. These meetings were usually stupid and had no meaning when nothing was going on. It usually turned to "how's everyone's kingdom doing?" and "are the Badlands prosperouring?". Most of the time, Hale thought they were just looking for weaknesses in each other. But a Grand Heyvan? Destroying a village no doubt? Despite that people were killed, he could't help but grin in a small way.

Meera stood after the Queen of Hegatzi, eyes sharp as usual. Her ears and tail twitched, not quite used to be called on, but not too bothered by it. Gazing at the Emperor first before sweeping her vision around the table, Meera began, "Those might not believe me. I know that if I was told this, I would question it myself, but there is no doubt that this beast was a dragon of some sorts. I was no more than 10 miles away from Kokoro village, making my way there, and the ground shook with the intensity of the roar that this beast had. And I saw it as it flew away. Black as night and wings of such size that it could put any dragon to shame. Make of it what you will. Grand Heyvan or not."

With that, her tail flicked again and she took her seat again. She noticed Dawn gazing at her in question, obviously stunned by this news. She had only heard about something attacking Kokoro Village, nothing more. Meera only nodded to her.

Upon this information, Logan Cordell sighed heavily and leaned back in his seat, shaking his head in disbelief. If there was a Grand Heyvan flying about Osoa and it attacked a village, then there was a possibility that it could attack somewhere else. Anywhere it wanted. More defenses would have to be put up as soon as possible.

While some people were worrying about defenses or grieving about those lost at Kokoro, Marika wondered if there was any way to contact a Grand Heyvan. If there was, they could prevent another attack. Even if it wasn't the same beast, there was a better chance for that Grand Heyvan to contact the other and hopefully stop them.

Is there any way to contact the beast? Maybe a Mystic could do so and prevent the attack? The white, neat letters appeard in the black pool so everyone could read.

xxx

[Sky]

Hunter Perked up at this news. This was new to him, why was this kind of stuff always new to him? But then again now that he had looked around the table everyone seemed to be in the same position as himself. This was definitely going to be a more interesting meeting than he had previously thought. He knew that new defenses would heave to be put into place in the kingdom he presided over but that was more the job of the counts. He trusted each of them to actually do their job so he sighed and glanced at the table, shocked to see the words sprawled in the center of it.

Keitaro on the other hand sat on the edge of his seat as soon as Grand Heyvan was said. This was most definitely going to be an interesting meeting. Many people would be suggesting things to do about this new threat, though he had no plan except slay the beasts. He knew it wouldn't be a favored answer though, he knew that much. Killing the beasts would be a more difficult task, losing more men than if they tried to solve the problem diplomatically.

Michael sighed as the news was said, he had heard about this incident from one of his merchant vessels that he owned. He hadn't believed the crazy story of the sailors. Now he knew how wrong it was to ignore the sailors. "Well, this was unexpected. I can't believe I didn't trust those sailors when they told me about this" The faerie asked to no one in particular. This was definitely less boring than he thought it was going to be.

Calista blinked silently at the words scrawled in the center of the table. Would that work? Would the mystics be able to reason with one of the beasts? She wasn't quite sure and she was the oldest, most experienced Mystics here. This was going to be one of the more difficult things she would ever respond to, would she accept the challenge and drag Holly into something like this even though the young Mystic had just joined them? Or should she just say it wouldn't work and leave it at that?

"That is a very difficult question to answer. It could work in a sense but at the moment there are only a few Mystics available. Holly and I could try on our own but it would still pose the question of how safe the attempt would be. We don't know what could happen. For all we know one of the more tame dragons would still attack us just for asking them a question. What I'm trying to say is I'm up or it if Holly is willing to give it a try."