The son of King Philip Thiessan and his former Queen, Anna Verchek, will reach the age of 18 soon. It is tradition in Hassfurt that the young Prince Jonas undergo the Day of Blood Ceremony. This will see the celebrant take part in a parade of others celebrating their 18th birthday the same week. At the Temple of the Two Gods Prince Jonas will undergo a form of ordeal by combat and if found worthy permitted to carry out his first blood sacrifice to the Gods. This is a momentous day in the life of any Dualist and as such we wish to open ourselves to the world to help form closer relations.
It must be noted that no exception to our faiths rules can be permitted. Those entering the temple must conform to our rules of belonging to the Ermwhal
[1] or Tyranha Strata
[2].
We look forward to hosting this event.
King Philip Thiessan & Queen Karin Biermann
The Palace of the Two sat on the edge of the "Old Town" of Codilla, the capital of the Diarchy. It was the day before the ceremony and in one of the ample courtyard of the Palace the recently turned 18 year old Prince Jonas was busy training with his father King Philip. The King stood holding punch pads on his hands having his son hit them in combination that he called out. The Prince was being criticised for his lack of power. "Boy tomorrow if you hit like this it will be embarassing" he informed his eldest son as they finished that round. "Come on" he waved his head towards the archway and began jogging his son, a tall boy, not as filled out as his father but his body leanly muscled followed. They ran up the hill towards the spire at the top. His father called this "The Gauntlet" and had made Jonas run it everyday for the last three years. His younger brother Stefan was also made to do the same and their security agent doubled as personal trainers ensuring it was done, today though Philip oversaw Jonas' final run. As they reached the next courtyard two wooden staffs waited and the two began sparring with them using as spears or long swords. The whole "Gauntlet" took close to an hour to run and by the end both were shined with sweat. "Get some rest now. Tomorrow I expect you to put on a show for the world. Now go change, your Mother is waiting"
"Yes father." Jonas turned bowed to his father and headed up he steps towards the interior of the Palace. His Mother Anna Verchek, the former Queen of Hassfurt had been watching them finish. Jonas saw her and smiled, "Mother" he said as he headed inside following his fathers orders. A few steps behind Anna was Queen Karin also technically his mother since she had become Queen following defeating Anna in a challenge. Jonas stopped and as expected bowed to Karin, "Mother" he said to her before heading off to change.
"So Philip how will our boy do?" Anna called down to Philip in the yard beneath.
"He should make a good show. He's a strong boy, his wrestling is good. His striking lacks power but hit often you maybe need to be less strong." Philip embraced Anna and kissed her on the cheek before hugging Karin.
"Yuk" Karin exclaimed, "You're covered in sweat" she protesed as she pulled herself back from him. "Get showered. We have family dinner in half an hour" she informed him. While Anna took her son for dinner in the capital the rest of the family would dine in the Palace."
That night Jonas slept in phases. His mind considering what tomorrow would be like. He had witnessed friends ceremonies and seen a few end up with broken noses, split lips and blackened eyes and wondered what would happen with him. His father was a good fighter and it helped having private tutors for wrestling, boxing and MMA drawn from the best of the military but as his father often said in fights luck is just as important as skill. Would he be lucky.
The next morning Karin placed out the black hooded robe that Jonas would wear on his parade through the streets. Beneath it she placed a gift, wrapped in red paper. He was in his bathroom singing along with some rock band as he showered. She listened for a moment hopeful his combat would be an improvement on his voice. She left quietly, she and her King agreed that Hassfurt must be more active globalwise and so had agreed to let the world witness this event. Naturally they had to ensure the purity of the Temple so with Jonas being Ermwhal he would ceremony alongside his own Strata and those of the slightly lesser Tyranha. The temple must only contain such people.
His shower complete he exited to find the robe. He held it up, just plain black, some had drawstring for the hood in colours, some occasionally had hems embroider with a feint pattern but his was just plain, a slight disappointment. He slipped it on tied the belt around his waist. It gave a look like some film monk. He then saw the red paper package and looked at the tag. "Love from Mother Karin" it said and he unwrapped it. Inside was a black box which he opened and found a small silver badge. He knew the story. It was worn by Karin when she had challenged Jonas' birth mother Anna for the throne, it was not uncommon to pin lucky charmings on the inside of robes. He placed it carefully and headed down for breakfast. The Palace courtyard was filling. Normally on the weekly ceremony of Day of Blood people gathered at the sports arena close to the Temple. It was about a 400m procession but with today presenting a Prince the Palace would be used meaning around 1km to be covered. Families were grateful to be inside the Palace for their family special day and black jacketed soldiers checked ID against list and then guided each Strata to their own courtyard. Today around 30 people would be taking part, some even from other cities had asked to share the day with the Prince. Six others shared the Prince's courtyard and while they did not dislike each other people eyed each other with eyes like a boxer eying an opponent before a match. "He's a long set of legs. I bet he kicks." Princess Agatha, Jonas 12 year old sister advised pointing at the boy talking with his family opposite.
At the Palace gate 71 year old Prince Marcel Bartial waited. He was Prince by stint of being a former King. He had been an over-confident 52 year old who had thought he could still fight younger men. Philip Thiessan had knocked him out in around 30 seconds taking the throne. He bore Philip no ill will, and knew one day Philip would likely feel the same shame and embarrassment he had felt. It was the way of Hassfurt monarchs and a necessity. He would be responsible for meeting those foreign guests who would be driven from the airport, along the new modern highway which Marcel hated. Then through the "Old Town" mighty stone wall and up to the courtyard entrance where Prince Marcel waited.