Niameck Fashion Week 2024 - Socialite's Thread

[Norgeras]

The Opera House had once again changed it's face from Fashion stage to Gala Show. Adelheid watched the last laudator on stage. She had to travel the day before to his school and personally boxed him out of detention. She was fuming and furious, that the smug dorm teacher sincerely believed she would let him ruin her Gala. The damn Bunny and his Leukemia Fund where the single biggest Donation driver in the whole country and that pompous failure thought he can tell her she can't have him because he supposedly didn't do his homework?

The Guy lost his job, not only that, she sure as hell shared the story all over the social media platforms. She even had posted where she found the supposedly never handed in homework. The idiot had it lying out in the open on his desk.

But now, she could finally breath. The custom was updated since he had grown a little bit, the fashion show had become the date when he updated the outfit now. She was just glad she'D get to the fun part now. Mingle with people, gossip a little drink champagne and have fun. The Entrance hall had been changed into a large ballroom with countless servers handing out champagne and little bites.

Adelheid grabbed herself some, and a glass of orange juice for the fabulous little marketing bunny Prince Augustin, and handed it to him as he together with the other attendees started streaming in.

"Anyone you want to dance with? And do remember to change into different clothes boy." while she scanned the room herself for the man she hoped was present.

"I mean, do you think people would talk about the fund more and less about you getting my teacher fired if i dance with your best friend and Rhin's Stepmom?"

"Only if we change you into a proper suit to dance in. Albrecht is going to kill me if you collapse of exhaustion again because you tried dancing in the whole getup."





Henriette Herrlich stood awkwardly to the side, she had gotten the usual business talk with her regulars done earlier the day. International Occasions weren't her forte, but she knew she needed them if she wanted to scale her brand. It was then that she was joined by non other than former Admiral, now speaker of the Elder Senate, Mathilda Eidmeier:

"I just wanted to congratulate you for this years models. Well done. And maybe get some attraction your way. People always tend to try and chat up the Speaker. Considering i'm the equivalent of a Prime Minister after all."

[Libby]

It was to be a hectic few days for Stasya, get over to Niameck, do the fashion shows, come back to East Moreland for the Feast of Helus and now head back to Neu Urburzis. She was releaved to have the luxurious royal plane at her disposal. She woke early and found her husband had woken up to. As she sat on the edge of the bed preparing to raise she felt David take hold of her from behind. "You could always just stay here" he said giving a gentle pull to encourage her to stay in bed.

"I could but then I'd not get there and that would mean East Moreland wouldn't be very punctual, and you wouldn't want that would you now" she said in mock of his hatred of ever being late. She did though allow him to pull her back and once she was lying back on the bed he wrapped her up and kissed her. "Look I'm going to have to go" she said as she brushed hair away from her face. "But we've a free weekend when I get back so how about you, me, my family villa on Iskor and that black bikini you like" she teased.

"I've a better idea" David said as he kissed her again. "The island, me, you but no bikini" she returned his kiss but then wriggled free and hopped out of bed leaving her husband lying there.

"Deal" she said with a wink as she disappeared to get ready. Despite being invited David wouldn't be going to Niameck, although he was always smartly dressed and stylish he had little interest in fashion beyond that of the tailors stores close to Embassy Row. Beside following the recent good news about the Borlanders the King would no doubt be busy and so was content to let the Queen and her friends enjoy the revallries such an event no doubt carried.

The flight saw a start to such a thing, with Jasmina Danilov and there friend Arina Pasternak having visited Northfort for the feast they would accompany her to the party.

They arrived with each of them looking forward to an evening of high class partying. Stasya had opted to wear the red dress her protegee Zari had created for their fashion show. Jasmina meanwhile had a classic black dress with Arina opting for a white busniess style suit. "Grab a drink and behave....for now" Stasya informed her friends as she spotted Adelheid and headed over. "Amazing weeks so far." She said as they hugged, "I hope the past few days have been OK, just unfortunate timing with the Feast back home and all that." She explained, she wondered if she should mention the news of Barrens demise but figured neither of them were too concerned about politics. "I must say that Princess Rhiannon will be thrilled to hear this has been a success, I know she'd very proud of her friend Augustin, hopefully next year we can have her come here. She needs to learn that gym wear is not the future" she grinned. "I hopefully have a few surprises for you lined up" She said eagerly linking arms with the Princess and introducing her to the two Lodjain friends she'd brought with her. "Ah, the first is right on cue." She said waving to the smartly suited man across the room. "Princess Adelheid allow me to introduce my vassal"  Stasya said the word ironically "Prince Bartholemew of Semelberg" she embraced the young man.

"Ma'am" the Prince said with a bow to each. "Princess Adelheid thank you for allowing us to attend such a wonderful event. I know that High Princess....I mean Queen Stasya, is keen for Semelberg to get some recognition away from home and I know I could do with some days away from the business of the Charterlands." He explained with a deep exhale, since Stasya had essentially said her family would bankroll the mini-principality he had found himself also drafted into the Charterlands governing system and probably never worked so hard in his life.

"I'm trying to line him and Ariana up" Stasya whispered to Adelheid as they moved away after talking to the Prince, "Unless of course you fancy a crack or are you still pining for that Makar?" She asked.

[Norgeras]

"I made sure i invited him here, dear. He's kind of perfect from the basic requirements, and a hard worker on top. We kind of fell apart during the civil war and our own politic crisis. Glad we got Matilda for now."

Adelheid glanced around and shrugged as the little Prince Augustin walked back to them, giving a more than dramatic bow to Stasya:

"You're Highness." he said, now dressed in a neatly tailored tux with a big bunny pin from his charity and the sword pin king David once gave him on the lapel.

Adelheid nodded in approval to him, before turning to stasya again: "I invited his older brother and the whole family for the week. I think i saw them during several shows so i can only hope his big brother shoves him over here. Kind of funny, initially i had gunned for the older one. That said."

she glanced around:

"For the sake of Ophelia, and our shared interest in that venture, is it possible you keep your involvement with Denman a little low until she has a better standing in the contest. Our Speaker over there follows a different kind of Feminism and that makes Denman rather unpopular."


Augustin meanwhile rolled his eyes at that:
"I mean let's be fair. We both know that several other Bachelors are already eyeing up whom they can snatch from those who don't make it. I just want Ori to be happy." he turned to stasya again: "You're Highness, would you allow me the first Dance for the evening? I could use some better Headlines tomorrow than my Teacher getting fired so i can be here today."


Adelheid snorted:
"That, and you want the morelanders to like you so you can spent more time with Rhiannon."

[Abertone]

Graziano and the rest of the Senate had been surprised that Marco had announced his intention to travel to Niameck. He was not someone they believed was that into fashion as such. He had aides who made all his clothing purchases for him and generally a nice suit, crisp white shirt and an expensive looking pair of shoes was all that was needed. Then when the Emperors cousin saw the security manifest for the suite that the Emperor had insisted on booking, "Lady Tonya", the Lodjain lady in waiting the Emperor had taken rather a shine to. The young lady had visited the Empire three times now since the duo had meet when the Emperor conducted business in the Queendom. The Emperor had arrived the day before the party and meet Tonya in a nice little restaurant the local ambassador had found for them. They didn't stay long there though before retiring to the suite they Emperor had selected. The next day they'd enjoyed the sights of the city as Tonya brought her outfit for the party that night. A fetching low cut red dress that swept the floor as she glided.

The two arrived together, Marco no longer cared about the various scandals and gossip his romantic life seemed to create back home and so walked in arm in arm with Tonya. The duo made their way over towards Jasmina and Ariana where the Emperor left Tonya for a moment while going and introducing himself to the host.

[Norgeras]

"Scandal Magnet at nine O'clock, i'll have to introduce myself quickly. My apologies Stasya, for having to leave you with the small guy for a moment."


Adelheid had been warned through her Earpiece of the approaching Emperor and as she turned around to meet him, made sure a waiter with champagne for him was intercepting them at a good spot. She did a curtsy and addressed the visiting monarch Marco:

"Your Highness! What a surprise! Isn't this your First Visit to our Nation at all? I wish my Cousin could be here but he is a little preoccupied. I'm sure our Speaker of the Elder Senate will want to have a word or two with you later on."

Adelheid gave a quick nod over to Mathilda Eidmeier, former Admiral and current Speaker of the Elder Senate:

"Though, don't let solemn politics ruin the Party. Here..."

Adelheid grabbed some of the Champagne from the Waiter and offered it to the Emperor:

"I hope all is to your and your companies liking so far?"

[Abertone]

Marco returned Adelheid's curtsy with a small bow. "Princess I must congratulate you on a wonderful fashion week, my understanding is that its gone very well. Sadly my understanding of fashion is somewhat limited, I simply have the good fortune to have a wonderful staff who organise that kind of thing for me. I do however enjoy a good soiree." he smiled as he took a glass of champagne. "As for visiting your homeland you're kind of right. This is my first time here as Emperor, however as a young man I was never supposed to inherit the throne and in those care free days I travelled Mundus a lot but only as a mere tourist, while I enjoyed it I sadly did not get to sample events such as this" He waved his glass gesturing to the room. "As for speaking the the Speaker of the Elder Senate....I hope I got that correct....I'd be delighted to speak to anyone who wishes, after all isn't that kind of what events like this are about?" He added "As for Lady Tonya I believe if your looking for fashion advice then a Lodjain is not a bad place to go to for advice. Now if someone should want to buy a fashionable Lodjain a thank you gift for looking after him what would be a good idea?"

[Norgeras]

"Hearing you say that you weren't the intended heir, reminds me a little of Orion. My poor dearest cousin lost most of his Siblings and family in the blink of an eye, and not even yet quite thirteen was suddenly the Emperor. Even if my brother as his regent did most of the day to day burdens in the past years, it wasn't an easy time. The whole Bride show is weighing heavily on him, too. As much as he's banging on about his duty he is gay after all."

she shrugs with a smile:

"As for gifts for Lodjians? I assure you the Queen of East Moreland is a better judge there than i am. If you compare Uburzian and Lodjian women, i'd say they are an elegant Arrow to Pierce your heart. We are a thrown brick to knock you out and drag you into our cave."

Adelheid gave a hand wave towards Mathilda, drawing the attention of the grayed lady in the wavy purple silk toga.

She walked over and nodded towards adelheid, before bowing slightly to Marco:

"Your Highness, what a surprise! I hadn't expected your visit!"

Mathilda's demeanor was more stiff than Adelheid's, her military years visible in her every move.

"I was just talking to Miss Herrlich, our usual supplier for the Elder Senate's traditional Toga's. You should talk to her if you ever come for an official visit so we can get you some ahead of time."

[Abertone]

The Emperor was not exactly too keen to discuss toga fashion with anyone and while the discussion took place kept glancing over towards Tonya. He however had been told by his cousin Graziano that he should seek to arrange more formal interactions. "Perhaps we can make arrangements for in the future a more formal visit between our nations."

Meanwhile while various people had been talking Carmela De Angelis. The 28 year old was the effective business brain of the De Angelis family having taken over their micro-bank business in 2021 and then utilising those funds to make the family even more wealthy than they already had been. In the past few months Carmela had been doing her best to ensure the family became not just a financial powerhouse within Abertone but also a political one and despite being member of a "Secret Society" known as the Onyx Club she believed that even that organisation wasn't living up to its aim of advancing the Empire. She therefore was here with the intention of going a little bit freelance. She had arrived to tap up several of the younger designers, giving out her companies business card and flyers to encourage them to maybe seek investment. That piece of banking business complete she spotted that Adelheid was now free from any of her guests for a moment and swooped in. "Good evening Your Highness" Carmela said as she approached. "I'm Carmelo De Angelis, CEO of MicroCreditBank and I'd like to congratulate you on a fine week. I wonder if perhaps I can speak to you about a little project I have in mind." She steered them towards a quieter part of the venue. "I'm sure that you may have heard rumours of things such as secret societies and clubs that exist well I've kind of been inspired by the idea of them a little" She lied, being a member of one meant she knew exactly how they work. "In Abertone we live in a world where I'm sorry to say we have a corrupt Catholic church turning a blind eye to the sin of our Emperor, we have a world where often success is determined not by what you know but by who you know. I want to be a success, you clearly do too so as a result I think we should get to know each other better. Not just us two but a group of well connected ladies working together to enrich our lives but also help others reach their aims. I plan on creating a kind of discreet network of properties for us to utilise, a network of investment opportunities, mentoring and various other aspects to help its members . I would like you to join me in this effort and as I glance around this room I can think of a few others we could also bring on board."

[Norgeras]

Mathilda took note that the foreign Emperor's gaze shifted back to the woman attending him, and with a sly grin she shrugged:

"Oh i am sure there will be plenty of time for that once you have to be the emperor again. Tonight i assume you wish to enjoy the high life that comes with it for a little. Though, i do know a couple good places to stay around several port towns. During my time leading the Mermaids i did come around the world a lot."

She took a sip of champagne, before the old hag leaned in closer to him:

"And if the Lodjan Lady there decides to be busy this evening, i'll let my Security detail know to let your through. If you're as adventurous as they say, that is."






Adelheid knew little about Carmela herself, but the way she talked about secret societies made her either a foolish young girl like herself ten years ago, or the woman would love to join the ones hiding in Uburzis. Adelheid made a mental note to let some of her associates know. But business came first, and De Angelis was poking a Hornets nest Adelheid wondered she might not be quite aware off:

"Ah, yes the corrupt Catholics. Let their Zealots run wild and kidnap and murder children and then later on act as if nothing was their fault, am i right? Do yourself a favor, don't talk about them near Augustin over there, he had a bit of a run in with the pope at the time."

Adelheid glanced over to the prince trying to make conversation with his best friends stepmother, before her eyes darted back to Carmela:

"As for a secret societies, you are right at the Center. We talk, we make moves, we Backstab and plot. Honestly? Politics and International gatherings are less of a Vipers nest than Model Agencies. But i know what you are getting at, tell you what. If you ever need a good contact to understand the Pitfalls of getting onto Uburzian Markets, give me a call."