The Stahl Ball

[Centurius]

After some unavoidable talks with certain aristocrats and diplomats Valerio had found some freedom agin. From a tray he took a glass of whatever was on it, in all honesty, and walked back to Magdalena.
"I'm really sorry I've been neglecting you. Will you honor me with a dance, my Empress?" He asked putting down the glass of alcohol he had.

The same guard which had offered the Papuan delegation a card to a great surgeon earlier now approached the red eyed man he just noticed. "Here, it seems a lot of people have misformed eyes these days. This card is to a great surgeon who can help you" He said before giving the man the card and walking back to the table with all the alcohol.

Edited September 3, 2011 by Centurius

[TheShammySocialist]

[quote name='Rauchen' timestamp='1314911761' post='2792480']
"The pleasure is mine, Your Grace," Alaric replied, inclining his head to the Lady Protector. "But this is a celebration, let's drop the formalities. Call me Alaric." He took two glasses of champagne from the tray of a passing waiter and offered one to Michelle. "We do what we can." he added in response to her comment. "But I daresay the Cajun Federation has done as much, if not more, for the Caribbean as we have for the Baltic."
[/quote]

Michelle laughed gently, thanking him as she took the champagne from him, and sipped deeply.

"We have done much, but there is much more to be done, it is still very much in the hands of the Holy American Empire, whose civil grasp over their Empire, as of late, may be waning," she nodded, with a rather forlorn look. She perked up a bit after stating this, and smiled, "I must say that Kurland has been a rising player in European affairs. How fares your new holdings in the former territories of Sweden?"

[Amyante]

Rebecca nodded in understanding. From what she gathered, Grand Papua was still locked in a struggle for power with the other ethnic groups within it. At some point or another, one of the groups would end up on top and the others would settle into their respective roles, after which a blending of ethnicity would occur over the course of several generations until only factions remained. It just happened faster in some countries than in others.

- "I see. Thank you for the information, and perhaps we may discuss this further on another occasion."

She bowed, taking her leave from the Minister of Communication. She scanned the ballroom for the Cochinese delegation, but was unable to spot him amongst the crowd, so she moved to the side of the room to peacefully enjoy a glass of fruit punch.

[king of cochin]

By the time the two reached the quarters, Margareta had almost passed out. After ensuring that she was well and properly tucked in, General Mahesh Varma would write a note by her bed side saying,

"Thank you for a wonderful evening, my dear. It has been years since I danced like this. You have made this old soldier feel once again like a young man. Wishing you the best in your life,

Mahesh"

Then the general would return to the ball and pick up a tumbler of neat Johnny Walker Blue Label. He would then notice the Zargathian envoy. He would move towards her and introduce himself, "Hello, I am General Mahesh Varma, Commander of Royal Cochin Defense Forces. How are you today, Ms Celentin?"

[Amyante]

At noticing the general she had been looking for speak up, Rebecca quickly put the small bowl down, almost choking in a piece of apricot. Smiling apologetically, she held a hand in front of her mouth as she cleared her throat. Satisfied that the danger had passed, she wiped a tear from her eye before starting.

- "My apologies commander, it seems i attempted to speak a little too soon... I am fine now, thank you for asking. How have you been?"

[king of cochin]

[quote name='Amyante' timestamp='1315068142' post='2793698']
At noticing the general she had been looking for speak up, Rebecca quickly put the small bowl down, almost choking in a piece of apricot. Smiling apologetically, she held a hand in front of her mouth as she cleared her throat. Satisfied that the danger had passed, she wiped a tear from her eye before starting.

- "My apologies commander, it seems i attempted to speak a little too soon... I am fine now, thank you for asking. How have you been?"
[/quote]

"To describe tonight as interesting would be an understatement. It has been quite a pleasant evening far. Strange people and even stranger experiences had been in store for me tonight," General Varma chuckled while replying.

[Amyante]

Rebecca smiled back, with all the intricacies of international politics it was almost a relief to see someone in a good mood these days. Given recent tensions between Zargathia and the UFE, it was a sight she had missed seeing for a while now.

- "Then that makes two of us. Empress Theresia seems to have gone out of her way to make this an enjoyable evening to all her guests, which is quite a feat considering the invitation was an open one. Not all foreign leaders are best friends, i'm afraid."

[king of cochin]

[quote name='Amyante' timestamp='1315071010' post='2793731']
Rebecca smiled back, with all the intricacies of international politics it was almost a relief to see someone in a good mood these days. Given recent tensions between Zargathia and the UFE, it was a sight she had missed seeing for a while now.

- "Then that makes two of us. Empress Theresia seems to have gone out of her way to make this an enjoyable evening to all her guests, which is quite a feat considering the invitation was an open one. Not all foreign leaders are best friends, i'm afraid."
[/quote]

"I concur with you on that. Austrians do know how to throw a party and also have the diplomatic intuition to ensure that the partiers do not go for each other's throats. A sensitivity that we are afraid is not very common in this world. Ms. Celentin, how is Zargathia doing now? I had read reports of the recent changes but am not aware about its intricacies. I hope you dont mind?"

[Kankou]

Almost with unnatural flexibility, Kei bent backwards as if he was playing limbo, letting the garlic confit sail over him. While in that position, he flipped his empty whisky tumbler at the garlic, managing to have all of them in the glass when he caught it with a handkerchief around his hand. After looking at the stain that the oil had left on the floor, he turned to look at Wei. "Thanks for the garlic. Been wanting to munch on them for some time."

Popping a few into his mouth, he went right back into the party with natural flow, leaving the guard speaking to thin air who never even got to get a word heard in Kei's ears. Kei noticed Khagan Mikhail speaking to someone, and decided to go to the Siberian leader, chewing on some parsley to freshen his breath. "Interesting agricultural discussions, I hear."

[Lestari]

[quote name='Kaiser Martens' timestamp='1315009406' post='2793259']
"I can see that." He nods during the brief, but solid handshake, making eye contact for a moment. Then his demeanor shifts back to his usual calm one, calm even around exploding bombs although in this context such a thing would never be suspected. "The pleasure is all mine. Isabelle from the North. I will have to read up on your country one of these days."
[/quote]
"Hopefully by the time you do so, we will have accomplished something worth reading about," et Violaine said with a small smile. "Germinal as our nation is, I don't imagine you will find much interesting for some time..." She paused as she glanced to the side and saw, with a raised eyebrow, what looked to be one of the Grand Papuan delegation, standing alone in the corner watching the two talking.

[Amyante]

Before answering, Rebecca looked around to see if she could spot any of the Yuan's or their allies nearby, then lowering her voice anyway, just enough for Mahesh to hear over the general buzz of people talking in the Ballroom.

- "Not at all. Zargathia's current status could be described as suffering under the UFE's policy of neocolonial imperialism displayed towards our nation. The Qingyuan Diktat was an insult to diplomacy, and if i were to elaborate further i would indirectly be insulting the hospitality of the hostess of this fine evening, which i have [i]no[/i] intention of doing."

After a quick glance around, she straightened her back again, a soft smile on her face as she gave a small shrug, her voice once again up to normal speaking volume.

- "And that's how we found our way here, at the invitation of Austria. It has been a while since our respective nations last held a meeting, we should do that again sometime."

Edited September 3, 2011 by Amyante

[Triyun]

OOC: As a note, your under constant guard. Will edit later to insert IC.

[king of cochin]

[quote name='Amyante' timestamp='1315072953' post='2793768']
Before answering, Rebecca looked around to see if she could spot any of the Yuan's or their allies nearby, then lowering her voice anyway, just enough for Mahesh to hear over the general buzz of people talking in the Ballroom.

- "Not at all. Zargathia's current status could be described as suffering under the UFE's policy of neocolonial imperialism displayed towards our nation. The Qingyuan Diktat was an insult to diplomacy, and if i were to elaborate further i would indirectly be insulting the hospitality of the hostess of this fine evening, which i have [i]no[/i] intention of doing."

After a quick glance around, she straightened her back again, a soft smile on her face as she gave a small shrug, her voice once again up to normal speaking volume.

- "And that's how we found our way here, at the invitation of Austria. It has been a while since our respective nations last held a meeting, we should do that again sometime."
[/quote]

"We are really sorry to hear about your predicament. We had tried our level best to intercede on your behalf however your collusion with the Koreans limited our options. As of now we can only hope that you may find the opportunity to regain your sovereignty in a peaceful manner. As regards the meeting, it should definitely be done. I would suggest wait a few weeks for the King to return from his journey."

[Amyante]

OOC: Amyante, or everyone in my party? Because all three of them are in different places of the ballroom atm. Either way, they'd see Rebecca whispering something to Mahesh, sure, just not what it is.

IC:

- "Oh no, we understand, and we don't intend to blame Cochin for it. We would definitely share your hopes to a peaceful resolution though... Might i be so bold as to request you to pass a message to your government that we would like to arrange a meeting, or would it be better if we contacted you in a few weeks' time?"

[Triyun]

OOC: You don't think the Imperial Guard for the first family has audio enhancing technology available on late night infomercials? Really Amy your being pretty niave there. Also all of them. I gave you your terms, expect them to be thoroughly enforced, that includes having the capability of listening in on all diplomatic meetings. You created your own mess, don't whine about it now.

IC:

Xuehua was fascinated by the explanation of Mikhails on turnips, the possibility of there being even bigger ones was quite simply amazing. But before she could answer his question she was struck by Kei's appearance. Looking at him she peered. Yelling across the room to Valerio she pointed, "HEY VALERIO! HOW COME THIS METRO SEXUAL HAS RED EYES! IS HE A GOTH?!"

Edited September 3, 2011 by Triyun

[Amyante]

OOC: Audio enhancing technology picking someone's whispers out from a room full of talking people? Also, i'm not whining, this isn't the GM's Court. You gave me IC restrictions, and i'm giving IC reactions to said restrictions, just because they're not unicorns and rainbows doesn't make them any less legitimate.

[Kankou]

Kei laughed boisterously at Xuehua's comment. After a few seconds, he spoke, out of breath. "My, we have a wild Princess here, don't we? Fresh from the country side, blossoming in the nice and warm light of family and power. Thank you for the metrosexual comment: At least you recognize that I may have an interest in you." The tall Prince looked down on the Princess with a bit of sparkle in his eyes. "I just happen to have a rare form of albinism which affects my eyes making them look red."

[Domingo the Honored]

Aleksandrov politely excused himself from his presence with the Angevin King and Greenlandic President. A stain on his shirt from a slight spill of his drink was bothering him, and he went to the restroom to do his best to fix it. After some work, he felt satisfied with the appearance of the shirt and returned to the party. He again ordered a soft drink rather than alcohol - he was intent on staying lucid for this event.

He took a look back over the party. It was an interesting mix of the European hosts and their neighbors and the rest of the world stage. Sipping the Coca-Cola lightly, he decided to simply stand and see if anyone would approach. In his experience some of the best meetings occurred if one allowed another to be the instigator.

[Centurius]

"NO XUEHUA, JUST A VAMPIRE. YOU SHOULD TRY A STAKE" Valerio yelled back.

[Kankou]

A nicely aimed garlic went into Valerio's mouth, which would keep him shut for the time. "Now, what were we saying?"

[Triyun]

Xuehua's eyes narrowed suspiciously looking at Kei, his comments struck her as being with a great deal of hubris. Who was he to make a comment about her upbringing, and then to say he was interested in her?

[i]"NO XUEHUA, JUST A VAMPIRE. YOU SHOULD TRY A STAKE" Valerio yelled back.[/i]

She wasn't sure if Valerio was joking or not. This was close enough to Transylvania after all, but more importantly she had been told some strange stories about certain people who had lived far into old age with red eyes. She frowned, staring back at the man, he seemed off to her.

"So are you?" she asked suspiciously.

[Centurius]

While both guards had been mostly wandering around the attack on their emperor made them fully alert again. The guard quickly ran to Kei and using their excellent melee combat would take Kei down before pulling him back up and handing him to Imperial Guard from the UFE.

[Kankou]

"I've been eating some garlic, as you can see my glass. What vampire would be alive doing such a thing, if such a paranormal creature existed? Besides, they say that only one possible vampire exists, no other than Kaiser Martens." Kei popped another piece into his mouth, savoring the taste. "Tell me if you don't like the smell, I'll get my breath freshened."

When the guards came, they would kick each other as Kei slipped through their attacks. He looked down upon the guards rolling around the floor in pain and just simply shrugged, after which he handed a note to Xuehua. "By the way, please give this to your brother. There's something that he and I need to discuss. See you again, Blood Flower." With that, Kei simply walked out the door, where he just disappeared.....

Edited September 3, 2011 by Kankou

[Triyun]

Xuehua looked at the man as he left. She felt a chill go down her spine. "Definitely not normal." she said to herself. Wei and four Imperial Guards were quickly at her side, "Princess are you alright?" Wei asked concerned.

She smiled nervously, "No I'm fine... that man. He said to give this to Jia... do you know him?" she asked.

Wei paused, "He fits a certain description..." Wei said. "These men will be with you for the rest of the night. I will get your..." he began before Xuehua shook her head cutting him off.

"Please see that the Imperator and Empress are left to enjoy their evening, this is Theresia's party, I'd feel horrible if I was the cause of the disruption, and if Jia hears about this, he'll go off..." she said.

"Of course Princess..." Wei said. "I'll wait till the morning to talk to him." He then paused turning to the Khanagate, "My apologies for the disruption, we are glad to see you here." the Grand Vizier said to Melech.

[Yawoo]

Edit: Triyun beat me to a response.

Edited September 3, 2011 by Yawoo