[OOC: Joint Post with Ben]
Clearing her throat and silencing herself, Alavra approached the Alkari minister and, in her best Staynish—praying the Alkari spoke the same, because she certainly did not speak Alkari—said “Good afternoon. My name is Alavra, I am the administrator of Arktorís in Elatana. This is Captain Vedra, who is in charge of our fleet.”
The Alkari looked at Alavra confused and with a certain glance of insulted. Who was this…thicker elf with tusks to speak to him? He looked over at the person holding the paper and quill. The assistant finally realized what was going on and spoke, “Oh, I’m terribly sorry. This is Lord Martine of Roshal, first of his name and rightful Lord of the surrounding town. What business do you have here? The Lord is terribly busy.”
“We are here on behalf of the Kingdom of Tavaris. We had arranged to meet with a representative of the Alkari government regarding the colony of Elatana, at which our countries are cooperating. In truth, we are facing a Balistrian blockade, and we need…” Alavra paused, trying to find the right words. “We deeply implore his Lordship and the Alkari crown to assist us in our mutual endeavour. The colony will fail if the Balistrian blockade is not broken.” Perhaps Vedra had been right to be nervous, she feared. She had failed to take into account the fact that most government officials were incorrigible.
Lord Martine looked at the two orcs standing before him. He almost pitied their situation. He picked his head up slightly to look more authoritative, “The King’s Hand is in town currently. You’ll find him holed up in the tea house over there. But be careful in how you address him. You don’t want to be on his bad side.” He points down the road slightly toward a sign in Alkari.
Alavara clasped her hand to her chest and bowed, in the Tavari style. “Thank you, your Lordship,” she was sure to say. Vedra mirrored the gesture but did not speak—she knew not a single word of Staynish. “We are to meet the King’s Hand in a tea house,” Alavra said in Tavari in a low voice to her companion. “I am told that we should be careful in how we address him as we don’t want to be… on his bad side.”
“Well… a tea house sounds nice,” was all Vedra could say. It appeared that she, too, had returned to nervousness. The women were silent as they walked in the direction Lord Martine had indicated and walked into the tea house.
As the two women walked into the tea house, the noise from inside the building flooded out into the street. The place was crowded with all different sorts of official looking people moving from one side of the building to the other. The sound of mugs banging on the table echoed through the main hall in a rhythmic fashion. Music being played could just barely be heard over the mugs and the sounds of people talking or laughing or walking from one side to the other. Through the crowd of people, the two women could see what could be presumed to be a bartender standing at a long counter with different drinks labeled in Alkari mostly, but a couple were in Staynish.
“This is certainly an active place,” Vedra said, looking across the din. “All of these people seem… formal, but I don’t know which one could be the King’s Hand.”
“Well, Vedra, they called it a tea house, but with music, crowds of people, and a bar… then I know exactly where to go for information.” Alavra allowed herself to smile before taking a deep breath and making her way to the bartender. “Good afternoon,” she said in Staynish again, trying her best not to sound like a buffoon with an accent. “We’re Tavari officials, we’re looking for the King’s Hand and Lord Martine directed us here. Do you know where he is?”
The bartender looked at them strangely. She started speaking Alkari back at the women. One of the fancy looking men walked over to the counter and said something in Alkari. The bartender nodded and went to work making three drinks. The nobleman looked at them and started speaking Staynish, “Why, it’s not common to see your kind around here. How long will you be here for?”
“Well, we’re not certain. I don’t presume that we’ll be here long, to be honest, we’re on an assignment of dire import in regards to the colony on Elatana. We have been dispatched to speak with the King’s Hand. Is that with whom we have the honor of speaking now?” Mindful of the warning about “bad sides,” Alavra decided that she would treat everyone she spoke with as the King’s Hand until told otherwise. The Empire was at stake, after all.
“Well, the King’s hand is here. I can ask the bartender where he is, but I request a favor back. There’s a gala here tonight and I would love it if you both would accompany me to the gala” the nobleman said, extending his hand palm up at Alavra.
Alavra looked to Vedra, unsure of what facial expression to make, and then back to the nobleman. “A gala? I… well, I suppose that would be perfectly fine. We would be glad to accompany you.” Looking at the man’s outstretched hand and unsure what to do, she reached out her own hand and placed it atop the man’s. She presumed that if she committed some terrible faux pas, she would be corrected. Better to make a mistake now than with the King’s Hand.
The nobleman spoke to the bartender one more time, and whatever he said upset the poor bartender and she started screaming at him. She screamed for a solid 5 minutes before the nobleman looked back at Alavra, and put his other hand on top of hers, “You will find the King’s Hand in the back room. Ask the guard at the door for chips, and he will let you through. Do take care ladies. I can’t wait to be the center of attention tonight.” He took Alavra’s hand and kissed the back of it before walking away from them.
“Alksearia is… a very different place,” Alavra said, barely above a whisper, to her friend. Vedra nodded with wide eyes, and then the two walked to the back of the tea house, where a rather stern looking guard stood at a door. “Ah, good afternoon…” She said in Staynish, unsure of how to proceed. The guard’s face was unforgiving. “Do you have any… chips?”
The guard looked at them for a moment and started laughing. He opened the door and motioned for them to go through the door. On the other side of the door, was a hallway leading to another room in the back. In the back, there was a long table with men sitting on all sides. At the end of the table sat a man with a crown on his head, and everyone’s attention was focused on him. As he saw the two women walk into the room, everyone stopped talking and stared at them.
He rose and gestured to them speaking in Tavari, “Greetings. Please take a seat. I will be with you shortly.”
The two women bowed deeply and took the proffered seats. “It is our pleasure to make your acquaintance,” Alavra said, relieved to hear him speak Tavari. Vedra looked relieved as well, but perhaps only slightly. The feeling of being the “odd ones out” in the room was quite overwhelming. In fact, Alavra almost wished the King’s Hand would take his time before speaking with them, in the hopes that they would have some time to prepare themselves.
The men continued their conversation for another 15 minutes in Alkari. The King’s Hand did not look very interested in the conversation, and when he finally had enough, he held his hands up, said a couple sentences in Alkari, and all of the noblemen in the room left. All of them grumbled and stared at the two Orcs in the room before leaving. As the last noble left, the King’s Hand’s head shot up after he heard something in Alkari said. He looked at the one guard and motioned to the door.
Speaking in Tavari, the King’s Hand addressed the Orcs, “Apologies for the delay, and for some of my broken tongue. I’m still new at this. I welcome you here on behalf of King Erique, the third of his name, King of Alksearia, protector of his realm and his people, Governor of the Church, and Chief Commander of the Navy and Soldiers. I am Lord Duke Frabrice of Nova, first of his name, Duke of Nova and her territory, and the hand of the King. How can I assist you both?”
“It is an esteemed pleasure, Lord Duke. I am Alavra, Administrator of Arktorís, and this is Captain Vedra, who leads our fleet. As you know, both of our governments are cooperating together to settle the island we call Elatana. Of late, there has been a Balistrian blockade around the island. We have only managed to make one supply run in the past few months, and we fear it is unlikely we will be able to do so again. We are here to deeply implore you, sir, to assist us in removing the Balistrian threat. We have only seven ships, and it will take half a year or more before more Tavari ships can arrive from the home islands.”
The Lord Duke sighed, “I heard about the Balistrian blockade recently. I do not know why those batareds are trying to start another war. As much as I would love to say that we will send the Alkari navy to fight, it is not my place. Only the King himself can declare war on other nations, and only the King is the Chief Commander of the Navy and Army. Best I can offer for you both right now is immediate passage back to the palace to plead your case before him, but you would have to be willing to leave early tomorrow morning with me on my ships, and it may take a couple weeks to complete the journey and to get an audience with the King himself. The other option you have is to try and convince the southern Lords, who will be attending the gala tonight, to help fight the Balistrians while you plead your case before the King.”
Alavra looked to Vedra and they communed silently for a moment. “As it so happens, a gentleman outside invited us to the gala, so I suppose we were already going there anyway.” Alavra sighed. Several more weeks to meet the King was several more weeks than Elatana had, but then, there wasn’t really another option. “Since we’re going anyway, then we can make our case to the Southern Lords and then depart with you in the morning to meet with the King.”
The Lord Duke nodded, “it is decreed. I will assist you at the gala, though I think I know the man who invited you two. I’ll keep an eye on him. Also, do try to enjoy yourselves tonight. You both look a little too uptight. Were you warned about my ‘bad side’?”
Unable to contain herself, Alavra began laughing. “As a matter of fact, yes, we were. Forgive us, it is sometimes difficult to be an orc in a foreign country. That said, we are pleased to have your assistance. And since it’s likely that we will understand very little of what will be said at the gala anyway, perhaps it won’t be so bad. How many lords will we have to speak with? Are there several?”
“There are several, but I assure you that most of them will be an easy sell, and most of them speak Staynish, so I hope that is not too much of a bother for you. And don’t worry about my bad side, unless you insult me or my guests, we will have no issue. I don’t mean to cut this sort ladies, but I do have other business to attend to. Please, enjoy a mug of tea before you leave. It is simply…fizzy” The Lord Duke said standing and bowing to Alavra and Vedra, “I will see you both tonight.”
The two women continued sitting for a moment, relishing the silence for just a moment. “Alavra, that word he said, do you know what it means?”
“What word?”
Vedra made a concentrated face in an attempt to repeat the word. “Viži. Er… Fiži?”
“Oh. Fizzy? No, I have no idea what that means, but there’s an easy way to find out.” She smiled and patted her friend warmly on the back. “Come, let’s try and lighten up a bit.”