The last two days Portworth had been a little grey and overcast however Helus was seemingly smiling upon the Festival as today the sun had come out and the temperature was climbing. King David and Queen Stasya had arrived two days ago, just as the bad weather had, they'd been able to give Princess Rhiannon time to spend with her mother Matilda Osman and her step brother Oliver. The royal couple had been staying in the officers mess at the Portworth Naval HQ and had been able to see the massive efforts gone into setting up for the day. They had seen a giant funfair being built between display stands, makeshift kitchens being brought in to allow food stalls to operate and of course the huge temporary seats that would make up a large part of the three sides of the quayside where the opening ceremony would take place. Behind that sat a large white mess tent set up as a kitchen for the various VIP's, it acted as a kind of refuge away from the crowds if they needed it. The King and Queen had arrived twenty minutes early causing panic among the Royal East Moreland Naval Service (REMNS) stewards who were working in the tent. The Queen was busy checking e-mails while David sat running over the routine for the day once more with his Chief of Household
Quinn Germaine she would effectively today be the gate-keeper to anyone wanting to speak to the King on business affairs. "So far Your Majesty only has Princess Brigida of Aosta lined up for official business, but as we've seen previous years you should expect that to perhaps change on the fly."
"Of course" David replied as he half listened to Quinn and half watched the REMNS chefs busying away to prepare breakfast.
"You're breakfast guests are here." Quinn pointed with her pen as the Marines on guard at the tents door stepped aside to let those the King hoped would help portray the Kingdom in the best light. First up was
Olivia Cole no doubt her day would be spent dealing with various companies wanting to demonstrate what they could do. Sir
Harry Samuelson wasn't too far behind, he'd be both trying to act as a kind of salesman for East Moreland's technology while also sneaking a peek at what other nations had to offer. The King had also invited a couple of business minds,
Sir Alan Maybury was more accustomed to things that flew but as of late the Morelanders had been utilising ground-effect vehicles for rapid troops deployment in the Mhroish and Illumic regions and so that had seen EMAC branch out from just the skies. Sitting next to him would be the king of geeks, Martin Dawson of SmartWar, his company had several contracts already to look at improvements to existing ships that would be attending the day. The King enjoyed having a catch up with them as he waited for his smoked salmon and scrambled egg to arrive, naturally all accompanied by some hearty granary bread.
"You've too much butter on that. Its bad for your health" Sir Alan pointed out to the King with a cheeky grin. The King just looked at him and simply added more butter as though being defiant. "Hey don't blame me when you don't fit into those trousers". The group enjoyed a lesuirely breakfast until Princess Rhiannon exploded in running up to her Dad for a hug. She'd been dropped off at the tent by her Mother the former Queen. David spotted her at the tent entrance and headed over.
"Thanks for dropping her off" David said to Matilda and then spotted three year old Oliver clinging to his mothers hand, the King knelt down, "Good Morning Oliver" he smiled at the boy seeing so much of his own deceased son Caspian in the boy. Oliver was now 6 months older than Caspian when he had died and the King imagined what Caspian would have been like if his medical condition hadn't claimed him. "Are you seeing the boats today." David asked the boy mumbled and David struggled to hear him say he was. David stood back up, the small of his back twinging as he did so from his old injury. "You're more than welcome to use the tent" David told her and his ex-wife thanked him. It was hard keeping Oliver out at the festival all day especially when it was so loud the tent at least gave some respite.
"It's time Your Majesty" Quinn appeared at his shoulder and the King bid Matilda and Oliver goodbye as Stasya joined him. The pair headed outside and by now the grounds of the docks were packed with visitors keen to see the opening ceremony. A group of Marines lead by
Lt-Col Ramsey formed up around David, Stasya and Rhiannon as they headed through the crowd to the grandstand where many of the days VIP's would join them.
Out at sea what appeared to be organised chaos was going on. It may have seemed odd but Marine Corps Regimental Sergeant Major Masterson was in charge of proceedings of over 300 ships from many countries. It was just like organising a giant military parade and the RSM was busy watching various feeds onboard the
King Robert which as always was the first ship in line of the parade. They would sail down the coast and make the turn into the bay Portworth occupied, from there the majority of the ships would sail around the bay and anchor up for now while several being selected would make their way into the dock itself. It was down to timing this year as the ships were expected to form a timeline, at the front just behind, and in fact being discreetly towed by the King Robert was the Red sailed Viking longboat from Nya Aland called the Drakken. "Vikings Daddy" Rhiannon pointed excited that her favourite group had turned up. Behind them came a progression of various other ships featuring first the glistening gold of the ceremonial barge from Aosta before the Tall Ship St. Linus with a group of the Cenneg corracle ships being tugged along. It was then more or less into the 20th Century as Khasatai of The Empire of Ikhan rounded the headland followed by a group of other ships including Rokkenjima's pride and joy of IMS United States, It was rather ironic as the timeline reached the late 20th Century several polar exploration vessels came in together including the Hygelac II of Nya Aland, NDRS Wissen and East Morelands own EMSS Matilda. Then it was the big hitters the military vessels of the late 20th and early 21st century being lead by Koyuga-Class frigate from Kaedwen. The ships of the various guests turned towards the docks and began being manoeuvred into position in a giant horseshoe formation giving anyone on deck a view of the forth side of the U shaped dock. A small 50 meter wide gap was reserved for the entrance of the King's sword. The last boats were making their way into position and the Ekrabadger appeared in the bay and at low speed positioned itself with its rear doors facing the docks. As they opened the roar of what sounded like a jet engine filled the air and in a burst of grey the EMAC
Waterbadger sprang from the rear, roared about half way towards shore and then cut the engines by the time it entered the docks it was bobbing along nicely lined up for the dockside. As it got close to shore the pilots cockpit slid back and Danny Jules its pilot was able to loft the Kings sword vertically as he made his way into the docks. As he reached the quayside a band began playing the
National Anthem at this everyone stood as a Marine and his escort appeared at the top of the slipway and marched down. It was clear the man in the centre was walking a little uneasy.
The loudspeeker system cut in as the anthem finished, "Please welcome this years sword bearer for the King, Royal Marine Reserve Corporal Simon Gatland. Corporal Gatland lost his leg in the Seaforth conflict and was part of the Legionnaire Legacy's Fight Back programme. In 2019 he became the first East Moreland serviceman to have suffered such an injury to rejoin the service where he now serves as part of the Royal Marine logistics detachment." The Corporal took the sword from Jules and affixed it to his own belt, about turned nervously on the slippery stone and made his way back up to the top of the ramp where King David had moved to meet him.
In a loud booming voice the Corporal greeted the King. "Your Majesty" he saluted the King "May I present you with your blade."
"You may Corporal." The King replied and watched as the Corporal expertly unhooked the blade and unsheathing it presented it the King pommel first. The King took the long straight cavalry sword and saluted the soldier with it before accepting in his other hand the sheath and sliding the polished metal back into it. "Corporal while you're here." The King watched the confusion on Gatland's face, he hadn't been briefed about this part of the ceremony. "On behalf of myself and the Kingdom of East Moreland I wish to present you with this." Princess Rhiannon appeared beside her father and handed up the small blue box. David flicked the top open and removed the item inside "Please accept The Moreland Cross as a token of appreciation for your continued service to the nation. Many would have said your service was more than fulfilled in Seaforth but I am proud and honoured to welcome you back into my Royal Marines." The King pinned the medal given for "acts considered inspirational to Morelanders" on the man's chest and then as tradition dictated saluted the Marine first. "In addition" the King continued once the salute had been returned, "After reviewing your superb service record it was determined that rather than restart your service you should retain your old rank. Congratulations Sergeant" the King handed the man a new set of stripes shaking his hand. "Thank you once again." The King said smiling at the rather surprised but happy soldier.
"Thank you" Rhiannon said with a smile as she took her fathers hand and followed him back to the grandstand. The ceremony was almost at an end but the King now needed to officially open things. "Honoured guests from across Mundus, Ladies and Gentleman." David began, "This years festival of sail began with the Waterbadger a design that in 2015 set a world record for the water speed record. It takes its place in the great technological advancements seen on the seas, some of which we have seen before us today and we shall see more of over the next few days. We are honoured to welcome back old friends such as those from Nya Aland, Achkaerin and Tytor, and I am excited to see new faces from such lands as Aosta and Ikhan. The sword this year was carried by a man I find inspirational, a man who has been able to regain his old profession alongside his old comrades thanks to advancements in technology and a whole load of guts and determination. This idea of technology helping us achieve more than we think we are capable of is a theme I wish to revisit this year. East Moreland over the next 12 months will be leaving a lot of our space exploration projects to CNN operations, meanwhile we are going to focus on using technology to achieve great things in the waters. I have in mind that this year shall see East Moreland utilise technology to explore the deep, help clean the oceans and I can announce that EMAC will be looking to extend their water-speed record as they plan Waterbadger II. It is my hope this time next year I will be receiving my sword from something that has materialised in the coming 12 months and I look forward to marvelling at what that is. For now however we will all have the chance to explore the wonders on display from many different lands and I wish everyone here a fantastic few days. Now I hope the Drakken is ready for I am about to unleash a Princess upon them. May The Gods Watch Over You and Your Seas Be Calm." David finished and following polite applause left the VIP area to head to see his daughter's favourites before later meeting up with the Aostans.