001; video (open to both courts)

[devotedqueen]

It seems the queens are bringing more and more people in to fight for their cause.

[When the feed flickers on, Elincia seems to be muttering to herself a little before she straightens and smiles at the locket. More people was both a bad thing and a good thing in her eyes. Bad because this meant more people to fight a useless war. Good because there might be more who could help her with something that was very important if she wanted to take leave of the castle as soon as possible.

Normally, she wouldn't ask people for help in such a public manner. But here, she was completely out of her depths and there didn't seem to be any books in the library that could aid her. While the queen's gift certainly sped up the process, Elincia just didn't have the knowledge about animal taming and training in order to maximise it's potential. 

Which is why she's here right now. She looks as neat and elegant as ever but to anyone who can read her well enough, they will be able to tell she's a little flustered.]

Excuse me, everyone, if I could just have a moment of your time, there are a few things I'd like to ask.

Firstly, I was wondering if there was anyone who could give me advice on taming animals. Wild horse-like creatures to be exact but if you have any advice at all, that would be most appreciated. 

[She tips her head politely with a small smile]

While I've been around horses and pegasi all my life, I've never been asked to tame one and I find myself struggling to do so. I can offer my abilities as a healer in return, if you like.

Secondly, I would like to ask, those of the Seelie Court in particular - is there anyone else out there interested in taking their leave of the castle? I understand several groups have headed off already but if there's anyone else who desires to see the world out there [and get out of the castle's range before they were dragged into another battle with or without their consent. She had expressed interest to Lord El-Melloi before but this time, she thinks she might be able to move around more efficiently with the right preparations] then please, let me know. It seems to be safer to travel in groups than alone.

Thank you for your time.

[Another small tip of her head and the video ends]

Comments

Audio, private

[gordianknots]

I know that there's a group from my side of things already out and exploring, although I'm not sure if you're likely to run into them.

audio, private

[devotedqueen]

Ah, do you mean Sir Maglor's group?

[Funny thing about that...]

[gordianknots]

I might if I knew the names of the people actually gone.

[Oh dear]

[devotedqueen]

One of the elves were with them, if that makes things clearer. Another had a red coat.

[It wasn't that bad. They just politely avoided each other mostly]

[gordianknots]

There's...a fair amount of elves, actually. Which are words I never quite expected to say in my life.

[devotedqueen]

I can't say I ever expected to hear those words either.

[gordianknots]

I'm sure that sentences will get weirder as time goes on.

Anyway. I take it you ran into that exploring party?

[devotedqueen]

Indeed.

Yes. It was during the [this is awkward to say] battle. I had been placed as support.

[gordianknots]

And I guess they crossed into your assigned area?

[devotedqueen]

Yes. It was a rather peaceful meeting, surprisingly.

[gordianknots]

Oh, thank goodness. I take it they weren't thrilled to hear what was going on though.

[devotedqueen]

No. It seems that the idea of following Queen Morla's commands displeases them.

[Well, the one she had spoken to directly at least]

[gordianknots]

I can say that a few people that got dumped in the woods on the Seelie end of things shared that sentiment.

[devotedqueen]

It seems a rather common sentiment for anyone who was placed on the support team on the Unseelie end of things too.

[gordianknots]

I'll include myself in that statement.

[devotedqueen]

[A soft laugh]

Good. I think both sides are in dire need of sense.

[gordianknots]

Tell me - did anyone openly question whatever commands you were given by your respective monarch?

[devotedqueen]

The queen didn't offer us a chance to speak to her directly before we were spirited away so I don't know if anyone protested then...

[She tries to think. She didn't really get to talk to anyone, in all honesty]

And I didn't get a chance to speak to anyone on the attacking team. They left so quickly and then the rest of us were too caught up in defending ourselves in the woods to talk then.

There was one boy on the team I was on who seemed openly against it but he didn't seemed inclined to leave on his own either.

[gordianknots]

We didn't have a chance to complain either before we were dumped into the forest.

[He sighs, hoping that the audio doesn't crackle on Elincia's end.]

Heading out into enemy territory alone is a bad idea. I had a close call when I chose to do that myself.

But in a way, there's reason to go along with these demands, no matter the dislike of them - the promise of boons.

[devotedqueen]

Yes, the boons - they are tempting. Enough to convince people that winning the Queen's favor is better than rejecting it outright. My feelings on their actions aside, they have been generous. I wonder if that will change in the future...

[gordianknots]

Even if it doesn't, it'll have worked anyway. A combination of promising to grant favours plus putting us into groups that might be attacked - and allowing us downtime to form bonds - is essentially playing into what they want.

[devotedqueen]

Ah...

[Elincia's thoughts had always been with her kingdom. All the people she reached out to tended to be similarly minded - lost people wanting a way to return home. Seelie had chosen her for her sense of duty. She had never forgotten where it lay. She hadn't considered the fact that people might be enticed enough to want to keep fighting]

I see. And with tensions running higher after the last battle...many will be inclined to draw closer together, against the unknown enemy.

[gordianknots]

Exactly. It's one of the advantages of pulling people in from different worlds - or the same ones - and them putting them into different factions.

[Waver had spent a lot of energy during his support team mission considering the approach both sets of monarchs had deployed in order to create loyalty to their respective courts. It was nothing he agreed with, but the strategy had been solid.]

Even if people want to get home, falling into some sort of loyalty has the potential to happen - especially when actual fighting occurs.

[devotedqueen]

And an all out war will erupt...

[She could only hope that enough people would resist]

[gordianknots]

The question really becomes timing. I'm willing to bet that the monarchs can wait for a long time if need be.