Author Topic: The Royal Parade (RS - Open to anyone)  (Read 2228 times)

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Online DaveIronside

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The Royal Parade (RS - Open to anyone)
« on: January 16, 2021, 08:18:58 PM »

Ipsus had been a hive of activity over the last few days. First their had been the birth of a second royal child in a short period, then sad news had reached them of the deaths of two Priestesses in Waddan which had brought the city into a period of mourning. Now the city was preparing for a much more joyous occasion. Ipsus stretched either side of a river with the old part of the city to West while the further East you went the more modern it became until you reached the cities most glistening new jewels Blue and The Palm. Close to the mouth of the river was the Royal Palace and next to it half inside the Palace grounds and half outside was the Royal Temple where the sacred spring of Anahita rose to the surface. It was, according to scripture, the place from where all life began and today would mark the beginning of the ceremony that every Prince and Princess born to the King of Royal Seleucid undertook. A road known as the Royal Road also started from here, it ran first ramrod straight to the West across the river by an ornante bridge and then through the old quarters where sandstone houses still dominated. As it reached the old quarter the streets began to twist and turn until they reached the western wall of the old city. There the old wall and road turned North and ran in a semi circular ring back to the river where a second ornate bridge allowed crossing. The road continued its circular meanderings with the old sandstones of the West now gone replaced by steel, concrete and glass of modern Ipsus. The road too changed nature from one of old polished cobles with a stone slab an axels width apart where once horse and carts would have run. Now it was a modern road flat but it's kerbside coloured bright red marking it as the Royal Road. Once to travel the road and use its bridges a fee must be paid and permisson of the Soter's sought however in the 1920's the then King had seen fit to gift the road to the people all days of the year with the exception of on days such as this. The new section of road ran to the coast before making its turn back to the Palace and Temple.

The Palace grounds had been freshly watered and in the early morning the smell of the flowers and grass was rather fragrant. The Soter family sat on the terrace enjoying breakfast before the day began. It would be one rather chaotic at times but hopefully enjoyable. The King and his eldest son Golzar and their cousin Danyaal would clamber aboard a flatbed horse drawn cart, this would depart the Palace and turn right to the Temple. There the mothers, Queen Chyrssa and Queen Haniyah, would hand the two children over to the men who would then take off around the city introducing the new royals to their people. Crowds were already assembling on the streets to pay their respects all carrying Oleander flower petals which they would ensure strewn the streets as the King passed. Meanwhile inside the Palace  the female members of the family would be watching the procession and events in the street from the top of the Palace in the Rotunda where a reception would be held once the lap of the city had been undertaken. With the family breakfast finished the two month old Prince Aali Akakois was wrapped in a purple blanket while his eight day old sister Katayun was wrapped in a green one. There would be a few moments to allow any significant guests to arrive before the trio began their journey.

Offline KrisNord

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Re: The Royal Parade (RS - Open to anyone)
« Reply #1 on: January 17, 2021, 06:56:15 PM »
Ailbhe Griffin had arrived in the Celtic Protectorate just before the New Year and her first official duty would be to attend this event. She had been posted to the Protectorate as the Cenneg's diplomatic liasion between the two nations and hoped one day of becoming an official ambassador for the Cenneg. She had ventured down to the capital that morning and seen quiet a few people from the Protectorate on the road. She was a little nervous meeting Heydar and the Soter's knowing that the Protectorate was something that he wanted to end however King Finley believed that it was important to show respect to the monarch. As was custom back home she had come with two small barrels of whiskey. "Your Majesties" Ailbhe addressed the Soter family as she entered the Rotunda admiring the view across the city. "In Ui Cenneslaig when the royals have a child they have a cask of whiskey put aside ready to be presented to that child on their 21st birthday. We have here one for Prince Aali Akakois  and this one for Princess Katayun. On behalf of the people of Ui Cenneslaig we wish them long and happy lives." With King Finley's gift handed over she retired to enjoy the view across the city while the family continued preparing.

Offline Markus

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Re: The Royal Parade (RS - Open to anyone)
« Reply #2 on: January 24, 2021, 03:44:59 PM »
Crown Prince Jamshid Safavid and his wife, the Selucid princess Thekla Soter Safavid had a relatively uneventful flight from Djerb to Ipsus. The couple had visited the Royal Seleucid together a few times before and princess Thekla still considered Ipsus and the Royal Palace her home though she did not dare say that out loud. Princess Thekla had a hard time adjusting to Tamoran strict norms and customs that ruled the private lives of the Safavids. She missed her late dad greatly and she couldn’t help but think of just how lucky she was to have had him take care of her.

Jamshid Safavid on the other hand was more ambivalent about the whole visit. Despite having been forced to undertake more roles in order to prepare him for when he would eventually have to take on the role of emperor, he had no inclination do so nor was he exactly delighted about the Soters. Still, as time passed he did become more intrigued about Heydar’s leadership of the country. Still, just like Thekla, he did not express any of his views in public and kept a friendly face.

Jamshid and Thekla smiled and politely greeted the hosts and the quests, then they proceed to give their gifts to the mothers of the babies: gold earrings for the baby princess and a gold bracelet for the baby prince.

“We send the warmest congratulations from the whole Safavid family and the Tamoran people” said Jamshid as Thekla was handing out the gifts.

“May divinity give them health and they in return provide you with much joy and happiness.”

“I do apologize for my father and mother not being able to attend. Matters beyond their control forced them to remain at home but they send nothing but the warmest thoughts and greetings to you all.”

OOC: sorry for the short and late reply. I have been slacking.

Offline Kemerovo

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Re: The Royal Parade (RS - Open to anyone)
« Reply #3 on: January 26, 2021, 10:56:57 AM »
Prince Kuldeep, known in his nation as the "Pious Prince" had been slightly surprised when his father, The Maharajadhiraja, had asked him to attend this pagan festival of sorts. Kuldeep was a 25 year old man who since the age 13 had devoted almost every waking moment of his life to understanding the Gods. If he hadn't been a Prince he would have been a Priest but his father had ruled that out. Even when he had turned 18 and the family tradition had required him to join the military for two years he had elected to join the Chaplaincy Corps and provide a mixture of physical care by being a medic and spiritual care by organising prayer meetings and rituals for those in the military. It was during that time he had written a history of the life of the Goddess Urmila that several leading members of the Priesthood had described as "ground-breaking" His time in the military over he had actually requested his father send him to the Seminary Schools to train to be a Priest and had once more been refused however this time his father had utilised his interest in religion to assign to him the task of "Modernising the Faith" and while he had not been in the Temple helping his people access their faith he had been tasked with using new technology to help the "internet generation" retain their faith. He believed that when the sad day came that his father Maharajadhiraja Krishnaraja III died he would not be picked as the new ruler as his studies had taught him that if he were a God he would have known by now instead he would ask one of his siblings to let him achieve his dream and enter the faith in more depth than simply playing about with the internet. He wondered if his father's decision to send him was down perhaps to one of two things. The first being that he was the least interested in politics and therefore unlikely to use the meeting as a way of expanding his own influence, the second was unlike his brothers he was not really a military man and with the on going conflict with Topri he was least needed at home.

He entered the Rotunda and looked around the room, "Gods protect me in this den of unbelievers. Watch over your cousin." He whispered to himself. He made his way towards the Soter family and gave a respectful bow. "Your Majesty" he stood upright, "My father the God Maharajadhiraja Krishnaraja III sends his greetings. I am Prince Kuldeep and on behalf of the Empire of Parbhani we wish your son and daughter a long and happy life."....."May they find the truth of the real Gods".... he wanted to add but simply extended his hands from behind his back to reveal on his left palm a small curved dagger on his right a bag of silver coins. "For your son so he may protect his people" he passed the dagger forward, "And for your daughter so she may have a dowry fit for a Queen." In the Empire it was tradition that when a new child was born the boys received a dagger of knife while girls received contributions towards their future dowrey however no doubt that would not be an issue for this new Seleucid Princess and so the coins were made with Heydar's head on one side and Haniyah's on the other with the child's date of birth on the edges. "I would hope this can be the first of many meetings between Selecuid and Parbhanian royals. Thank you for allowing me to witness today." He bowed once more and then returned to the crowd.

Offline Achkaerin

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Re: The Royal Parade (RS - Open to anyone)
« Reply #4 on: January 27, 2021, 02:12:28 PM »
In another lifetime Scotia Conway could have been here in a very different guise, there had been a time when she had been believed to be the most likely future wife of Achkaerin's current Emperor, but then she herself had never pictured herself in that role, never really seriously considered it despite the relationship she'd had with the Emperor but that was all in the past now here she was in an ambassadorial capacity as the Achkaerinese envoy to the Midaranye region, which was just a fancy way of saying sub-prefect - Achkaerin's embassies operated what was termed the Prefect system, each continent had an ambassador who was given the title Prefect meaning they were the senior Achkaerinese ambassador on the continent and so took on extra responsibilities, some areas of Mundus didn't necessarily conform to this idea though, Aranye itself was one very large continent, the Illumic transcended two continents and then Midaranye was an area which merited a closer watch so her envoy role was more like saying she was a roaming ambassador who liaised with Achkaerin's ambassadors stationed in Midaranye and also attended things like this. She was accompanied by her husband Thomas, a man who ran Stratos Gaming, a small company that designed, developed and manufactured various trading card games it was based on KHELP.

One subject of discussion in the run up to this had been what to provide as a gift, there were several traditions back home that were usually observed when a child was born, in the end they'd followed one of them though both children would be given a pendant necklace made of a silver chain and a silver elliptical shaped pendant on which for Aali there was a topaz jewel fashioned in the Marquise cut owing to it being a male child, the topaz signifying the month of birth either side of the topaz there was a simple quartz crystal indicating the day of birth a Monday[1]. For Katayun the pendant held a garnet jewel for the month of birth in a Princess cut as this was for a female child, either side of the garnet were emeralds indicating a Friday[2] on the back of the silver ellipse the child's name and date of birth were etched along with a small silhouette of a stag. In Achkaerin these were called birth necklaces, given to the child traditionally when they were born or soon after, tradition also dictated the parents were given ornamental versions of them which in this instance was more interesting typically the parents would have one of these between them but for today Heydar was being given one for each child while each mother would receive one for their respective child.

Scotia greeted their hosts and after introducing her husband handed their slightly small pile of gifts over "On behalf of the Achkaerinese people I wish both children the greatest happiness and long, healthy lives." she said
 1. OOC - assuming Monday November 16th as date of birth
 2. OOC - assuming Friday January 8th as date of birth

Online DaveIronside

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Re: The Royal Parade (RS - Open to anyone)
« Reply #5 on: February 07, 2021, 10:41:03 PM »
"Ah the Cenneg and their whiskey" Heydar greeted the official from the Celtic Protectorate. "I understand its now in every cafe and restaurant in Meybad" the King joked as he allowed his staff to take the whiskey. "It is my hope that the monarch of Ui Cenneslaig will come and help us drink these barrels in 21 years time. I look forward to it....except I'll be old and grey." Heydar waited for his mother Whilhom Queen Samira to take Ailbhe for a drink of the strong minted tea that was popular here.

Next to arrive was a familiar pair of faces Heydar warmly embraced his sister and shook her husband Prince Jamshid's hand between both of his. "Thank you for coming and especially the gifts" Heydar took time to inspect them before passing them off to two of his servants to be put into safe keeping. "I hope you'll both find some time to stay a few days with us, as ever the Palace is always ready to play host to you and Aali Akakois and Katayun would like to spend time with their Aunt and Uncle." Heydar motioned for Wilhom Queen Yanna, Thelka's mother to come over. She'd soon have her own 2nd marriage but today she was just pleased to see her daughter and son-in-law. She'd soon be spending more time in Tamora and so was hoping to see ever more of her daughter. She linked arm with her daughter as she headed off to find them some tea and introduce them to her grandchildren. "I'm hoping" she began talking to Jamshid "That the pair of you will be able to help me settle into Tamora when I arrive."

The next arrival was a total surprise. If truth was told Heydar probably would have struggled to find Parbhani on a map but he was pleased that they had come. He waited for his staff to take away the gifts before shaking hands with the Prince. "Your Highness we are thrilled you have come to see us and please thank your father for the gifts. I'm hopeful this will be the first of many exchanges between us. I hope that later today we can find some time to speak, in the mean time however may I introduce my step-mother" He motioned for Wilhom Queen Katerina to come over, she bowed to her son-in-law and then the Prince. "Please take care of the Prince for me." Katerina nodded and took the Prince over towards where the tea was being served.

"You'll hopefully forgive me" Katerina began, "Parbhani is a nation I'm not hugely familiar with. Does your father intend for your people to begin more international visits such as yours?" she tried to engage him in conversation.

The final person to arrive was Scotia Conway. Heydar greeted them both and made a show of inspected the necklaces, his nation after all did have a reputation for jewellery itself. "Thank you, they're beautiful" he exclaimed as he passed them to the hectically busy staff. It would be down to Heydar's younger sister Afroditi to meet with Scotia and her husband and so in search of the trademark tea she headed to the edge of the Rotunda.

"As a special envoy where do you spend you're time?" Afroditi asked Scotia before asking Thomas about how he was finding things on KHELP.




Offline Kemerovo

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Re: The Royal Parade (RS - Open to anyone)
« Reply #6 on: February 09, 2021, 10:58:10 PM »
Prince Kuldeep bowed respectfully to Wilhom Queen Katerina, "Your Majesty." He paused for a moment, "I'm sorry I'm not exactly sure if Majesty is correct, Wilhom Queen is a title I've never heard of before, I know it means you were once Queen but now? I'm not sure how things work so please forgive me if I have offended" He accepted one of the cups of tea. As someone who came from a nation where tea was a regularly seen crop he was considering himself well versed in the beverage however sweet and with mint was not a way he would have had it by choice. He smelt the steaming liquid and approved of the fragrance before taking a delicate sip. He liked the taste but perhaps burnt his mouth a little. "As for Parbhani we have been rather preoccupied securing our people's future. Sadly our neighbours wish to jepodise our water security and that can not be permitted. While your own people have to contend with arid desert we have a problem with rather seasonal rainfall, months of dry hot weather punctuated with a couple of months of hard rain. If we don't get that water through our rivers it spells disaster for our farmers and well you're a nation that can appreciate that problem. I understand you have now solved your own food security problems?" He had read about the recent visit to Lijiang. "How did your visit to Lijiang go? They seem a fascinating nation." He had read about their Dragon-Faith, a schoolboys daydream, but he had found it rather fascinating. "I however hope you don't mind me saying the reason my father elected to send me here wasn't just for celebrating your good news. I know Royal Seleucid is a nation that has done several large scale desalinization programmes and that is a potential route out of water insecurity for us. It would end the seasonal struggle for water. Do you think your son-in-law would permit me to inspect some of your nations infrastructure for such a thing? See what lessons we can learn. Perhaps even allow us to purchase some of the patents or designs if we needed too?"

Offline Achkaerin

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Re: The Royal Parade (RS - Open to anyone)
« Reply #7 on: February 10, 2021, 06:25:10 PM »
Scotia smiled as she and Thomas observed the formalities of polite and respectful bowing as she considered the question the Princess had asked. "Your Highness, I believe one could say I live something of a nomadic existence. I rotate where I spend my time in Midaranye, a month in Vanora, a month in Safraen, a month in Royal Seleucid and so on through the region unless there's a situation that prevents me from doing so for example the recent conflict in Clysperis. I basically live in Achkaerinese embassies, attend events in the country I'm in, meet with people and things you may be familiar with as I believe you yourself have worked for your nations Foreign Office. When I'm in your nation I do build in time to spend with Thomas even if that means getting a ride out to KHELP and just sitting watching him work."

Thomas smiled when the Princess asked him about KHELP "I'm finding KHELP to be a very good place to live and work. It's become quite a close knit community and considering my line of work it's helpful to have a fair few artists of different types all within walking distance and we're branching out into online streaming for game sessions. I don't wish to drop too many spoilers but we're launching a new game featuring a lot of KHELP talent in the artwork, perhaps if time permits you might be interested in taking a guest seat at the table for a session or two."

Online DaveIronside

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Re: The Royal Parade (RS - Open to anyone)
« Reply #8 on: February 12, 2021, 09:15:53 PM »
Katerina was no expert of desalinisation processes or facilities. She knew that their nation had lots of them and that her late husband King Akakois had been determined that they needed even more it probbaly meant the nation was pretty good at making and running them. "My son-in-law is proud of the engineering work of Seleucid citizens. We have in the past negotiated arrangements to support technology procurement with other nations so I am certain he would be happy to help if you can offer us things we need. I'd be happy to introduce you to the relevant people once today's formalities are out the way." She turned to the question on her recent overseas visit. "Lijiang was a rather interesting nation. On one hand its beautiful, the people very friendly, however its partly trapped in a time warp. At times you feel like your back in the depths of time while the next moment you feel back in the 20th Century, I wouldn't though say they are yet in the 21st but I'm sure they'll get there. I think you'd like them."

Across the room Princess Afroditi "Perhaps next time I visit KHELP you can give me a guided tour. I'm not however much of a game player so you'll have to explain it to me."

Offline Xaeth

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Re: The Royal Parade (RS - Open to anyone)
« Reply #9 on: February 15, 2021, 06:17:18 PM »
Sheikh Ibrahim ibn Hassan Al Idris, eldest son of the Emir of Afayah & heir to that title, wasn't entirely certain of his feelings regarding his visit to Royal Seleucid. Whilst the Soters were family, as Wilhom Queen Samira was his Aunt and thus King Heydar his first cousin, it wasn't as though he was familiar with them in any capacity. After his father succeeded his own father as Emir of Afayah the man had been focused on the running of Afayah & Alakhwan almost to the exclusion of almost all else. So it had come as a surprise when Ibrahim had been ordered to attend the celebration of Heydar's children's births.

"Are you all right, *habibi?*" asked his wife Dalia al-Sadarri, taking his hand in hers, "You've had that look on your face the entire flight."

Ibrahim gave his wife a smile, "I am fine, *habibi*. Just uncertain of how this meeting will go, and you know how I hate that."

"There's no need to worry, dear. You may not know them as well as your other family, but that doesn't change the fact that they are family," Dalia said with a smile, "Whenever I visit my family, I swear that I've never seen half the people there before. But they treat me no different."

Ibrahim chuckled; that certainly was the Alakhwani way but they weren't going to Alakhwan. But regardless his wife's words did much to put him at ease. Though his thoughts were disrupted by a rustling of pages from across the aisle where his other wife, Shireen Samaniyan, was busy flipping through a magazine. "Are you alright? Not feeling sick, are you?"

Shireen quickly glanced up before just as quickly returning to her magazine, "It's a plane. Not a boat. I'm fine."

------

The trio arrived without incident and made their way to the temple, Ibrahim locked arms with Shireen while Dalia trailed to his other side. Ibrahim took a gander around at the various people present, waiting patiently until Heydar was free to speak. "As-salaam 'alaykum, your Majesty. From the people of Afayah & all Alakhwan, we wish to extend to you the deepest & warmest of congratulations for the birth of your children. My father wished to attend, but unfortunately God had planned otherwise. He offers his sincerest apologies," Ibrahim said with a polite bow, "We have also brought a pair of goats as gifts as is tradition, to be slaughtered & prepared when & how you see fit. Though they currently remain at our plane, as we have no wish to interrupt the proceedings with live animals."

Online DaveIronside

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Re: The Royal Parade (RS - Open to anyone)
« Reply #10 on: February 19, 2021, 11:54:42 PM »
The event was about to get underway officially when the Sheikh from Alakhwan arrived. Heydar, now with Prince Aali Akakois tucked into his arm, head over. "Welcome to Royal Seleucid cousin" Heydar used his free hand to shake the mans hand. They were now the most distant of cousins but their was still familial ties which Seleucid tradition meant would need to be respected. "We thank you for the gifts" Heydar replied politely "Sadly we'll not be able to prepare them for today but rest assured in the coming months we'll have plenty of celebrations and so they'll be put to excellent use. Please come this way." Heydar guided them towards the centre of the Rotunda at the top of the Palace. "Everyone" the King called across the buzzing room. "May I thank each and everyone of you, new friends and old, for coming here today to celebrate the birth of my two children. The birth of a new Soter is an occasion that is always a cause for celebration for our people however to have two born so close together is clearly a blessing from the Goddess and we are so very thankful. It was my fathers dream to have an extremely large Soter family, unfortunately growing up it was me and Hadi and a gaggle of girls meaning rather more pressure on continuing the Soter name fell onto me." The room gave a few nervous laughs. "It is my dream that this will be the first of a great many of these events and I do hope you'll all come back for each of them. Now sadly I must leave you for a few hours as me, Danyal and Golzar must go and introduce the new Prince and Princess to their people. Naturally you're welcome to come along or if you prefer you may walk the Palace grounds or explore the city at will. Now please forgive us, we must be going." He handed Aali Akakois to his big brother Golzar while Katayun was being carried by the King's cousin Danyal. The various Soter women present kissed the babies as they were first paraded round the Rotunda each either side of Heydar. The trio of Soter men then walked down the spiral steps to ground level with the group following behind them. First they headed to the Temple of Anaitha which saw the Palace fence run through the centre. There the option was given for the guests to bypass the Temple or follow Heydar and his entourage through where the High Priestess was waiting. Heydar knelt and pressed a hand to her feet while Golzar and Danyal simply knelt behind. The High Priestess sprinkled water on Heydar from the small spring that marked the boundary between the royal half of the Temple and the half that the general public could enter. A small channel of water marked the divide and it let the cool clear water trickle into a fountain where people would collect water that had come from the point where the Goddess had created the first drinkable water for mankind. Once the High Priestess had blessed Heydar she moved onto the children. She took Aali first and cooing to the boy as she took him she carried him to the fountain and scooping up some of the water let it trickle into his mouth causing him to squirm a little.

"Prince Aali Akakois has drank the water of the Goddess, she shall help guide him, make him strong and grant him the strength to serve his family and the people of Royal Seleucid" The crowd of invited guests from Royal Seleucid who had gathered near the fountain cheered as Aali was passed back to Golzar. The High Priestess took Katayun and dribbled the water into her mouth, unlike her brother she giggled and a small pink tongue lapped at the water on her chin. The High Priestess smiled as Heydar watched on. "I think this sweet one is clearly in love with the Goddess already" She wiped the girls face before turning to the crowd once more "Princess Katayun has drank the water of the Goddess, she help guide him, make her fertile and grant her the strength to serve her family and the people of Royal Selecuid." Once more the crowd clapped and cheered as Danyal took custody of the little bundle again. The High Priestess walked up to Haniyah and Chyrssa who both knelt and touched her feet before accepting a blessing of water themselves. The High Priestess then hugged each of them and took hold of each of them by one hand and now sandwiched between them approached the public side of the Temple. "BEHOLD!" She yelled, "The Queen's of Royal Seleucid, the Mother's of royalty and matrons of our people." The crowd cheered and a few threw flowers towards the duo. Chryssa stood waving to the crowd while Haniyah simply nodded respectfully at the crowd while mouthing "Thank you" To the people. The procession was about to begin and so the military guardsman created a corridor through which everyone could pass and the crowd dutifully parted. Heydar lead the way with Golzar and Danyal carrying their precious cargo followed. Heydar jumped up onto the flat-bed of the horse drawn cart with ease and took his newborn son while Golzar climbed up and took the Prince back, repeating the process Heydar helped Danyal aboard and the trio were ready to show the children off. The guardsman made sure that those of the visitors who wished to follow could board a more traditional horse and carriage fashioned to allow a good view of the procession.

As the horse driver cracked the reigns to put the procession into motion Golzar stumbled slightly and Heydar steadied him. "Last thing I need you doing is throwing him onto the street." he smiled at his son who he saw immediately found a better position so that he was half sitting and half kneeling on one of the benches and was thus more stable. "I suppose we better get things going." Heydar had remembered his father doing this for his younger siblings and as the procession turned onto the Royal Road prepared himself. It would be about three miles as they travelled West away from the Palace towards the river, most of the journey to the bridge would be through some of the older parts of Ipsus and it made a rather regal backdrop to the occasion. Heydar looked at the crowd either side, many of whom were throwing flowers before the carriage. "MY LOYAL SUBJECTS!!" Heydar had contemplated using a megaphone as his father had done once but the horrible squeakiness of it had at times been comical and so Heydar opted for his old military instructor voice. "WELCOME YOUR NEW PRINCE AND PRINCESS. THEY SHALL SERVE YOU WITH DEDICATION AND LOVE FOR THE GODDESS AND YOU SHALL BE LOYAL AND LOVING TO THEM IN RETURN. WELCOME PRINCE AALI AKAKOIS AND PRINCESS KATAYUN." The King picked a spot on the road ahead and waited to reach that point before repeating himself, he suspected by the time they had finished their route he'd be rather horse. Every now and again a selected member of the street or block of residences they passed was permitted to approach the cart and offer up a flower to the new borns and Heydar would thank them and present them with a specially minted coin which he had a pocket full of. They reached the bridge and the procession stopped. Heydar stepped down and took both the children. The bridge marked the first land-mark of the procession and Heydar began walking across the bridge with the children. He'd only got about a fifth of the way across when their was a sudden quick scuffle of feet and from one of the guardrooms a group of seven men, some just out of their teens while one clearly looked like he would struggle to walk far on his own.

"HALT! Who goes there?" The old man called rather more loudly than Heydar had expected.

"The King" Heydar responded.

"Which King?" The old man questioned.

"King Heydar of Royal Seleucid with his children Prince Aali Akakois and Princess Katayun." It was an old tradition but that was what today was about after all.

"If it please your Majesty the Warden's of the River ask your permission to meet their Highnesses" The old man was Rashif El-Badar and his family had been the Wardens of the River for at least 500 years now. In the days of old they would have provided guards on the five guardrooms that lead across the river and collected tariffs of those using the bridge on behalf of the Soter family. Heydar walked towards them and now the volume dropped as Rashif swept a sword in a deceptively quick arc to salute despite his near 90 years of age. "They are beautiful" he said quietly as he looked at each of them. He then stepped back. "As Soter Prince and Princess the Warden's of the River recognise their authority over this bridge from now and forever more." Two of the younger El-Badar family stepped forward and presented two large iron keys that represented the keys needed to lock the bridge down if it was ever needed.

"Thank you" Heydar said politely as he realised the next bit was a bit tricky as he was supposed to hang the key around the children's necks but now had no free hands. "Erm.." Without thinking he handed Katayun to Rashif and the old man instantly began humming to the little girl as he had when he'd held so many of his own grand-children and even great grand-children. With the key now around Aali's neck Heydar placed the key around Katayun's before taking her back. He then turned his own volume up so the crowd could once again hear. "Warden's of the River" He called loudly. "We thank you for your unwaivering loyalty and demand access to our bridge so that the Prince and Princess may tour their city. Please accompany us."

Rashif yelled at his sons and grandsons who now headed to the rear of the column where Rashif was thankful a flatbed truck was waiting for them and his youngest grand-sons helped him aboard. Heydar returned the children to Golzar and Danyal clambered up onto the cart and removed the keys carefully placing them in a wooden chest that had been screwed to the floor of the cart for just this purpose.

While Heydar had been carrying out the rituals several of the Seleucid nobles in the procession had walked up to witness and inside the security cordon provided by the military for the ritual were free to chat with the visiting guests. One such man was Affan Abbas, he was a man raising in the ranks of Seleucid society. His father had been merely a Knight and by careful negotiation had managed to marry his son to a minor nobles daughter. It was ironic that Affan's father had actually owned more land than this noble but the title was the important bit not the land and Affan had made sure that he capitalised in on his own military service to make many more influential friends. There was now talk of him talking up a minister's position or an ambassadorship to somewhere and so he was keen to get his face seen at the event. He walked to where the foreign guests were and looked for anyone he could strike a conversation up with.

Offline Achkaerin

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Re: The Royal Parade (RS - Open to anyone)
« Reply #11 on: February 24, 2021, 12:04:05 AM »
"Of course Your Highness I'll be happy to explain how it all works to you." Thomas said speaking with the Seleucid Princess just mere moments before the procession started.

When they reached the bridge Scotia smiled it was moments like these that partly made her step back in time, the tradition, the ritual, these were concepts she'd been very familiar with in her younger days. The Purification Festival back home, which coincided with the changing of the year was perhaps the biggest public festival and was steeped in tradition so much so that it had a lot of them leading up to the day itself. A more formal occasion such as a coronation, royal wedding, opening of the Senate or a state funeral would probably attract the crowds but this parade was on a level Scotia hadn't seen in a while. She was also admiring the bridge's architecture, it was a simple yet lovely design and the nearby buildings only added to its charm, she looked around assessing who else was in the crowd watching, people who she might know, there were plenty of them, after all an occasion like brought out all the people who wanted to be seen. There were a lot of rumours around a few people she could see, talk of where they might find themselves if they were able to stay in the King's good books so to speak. Taking a slight step back to steady herself as she looked around she spotted someone she  recognized by sight but hadn't spoken to before Affan Abbas, she knew a little about his backstory but she was curious especially since his star seemed to be very much on the rise. Taking the plunge she approached the man, greeted him and introduced herself and Thomas before asking "Are you enjoying the days festivities?"