the_once_and_future: (Sovereign of Britain)
Arturia ap Pendragon ([personal profile] the_once_and_future) wrote in [community profile] imperial_stage2012-08-05 01:10 am

Return of the King of Knights

Who: Arturia, any Briton, or anyone with a reason to be in Camelot
What: The Queen returns
When: 5 August, early morning
Where: Camelot, either in the courtyard outside the great hall or inside

It was the early hours of dawn, when the city began to wake from its slumber for a new day of work. The medallion of the sun hung low on the horizon, a brilliant magenta as it filtered through the rolling fog along fields of wheat, barley, and rye. Farm hands had just begun to lead their sheep and cattle out to pasture, and squires started their task of tending to the mounts of their knights. Apprentices to various trades were already performing the morning chores their masters tasked them with, occasionally dodging shopkeepers rolling up the curtains over their stalls. It was a day like any other.

It was into this idyll that the small company of knights rode, weary to the bone but none the worse for wear in spite of their previous battles. They had left behind their their families and friends to join the campaign; each knight's spirits were light if for no other reason that they would see their loved ones again. They were exhausted, but at long last, they were home. The Black Company had returned to Camelot.

The knight at their head dismounted with ease and grace, giving Llamrei a fond pat before a somewhat bewildered stable-hand led her away. The company followed suit, awaiting the dismissal of their leader. A final "huzzah!" heralded their departure, eager even in their weariness for their anticipated reunions. Yet, even in this otherwise joyous homecoming, Arturia ap Pendragon frowned slightly as her sea-green eyes scanned the courtyard, as if expecting to find something there that was conspicuously absent. But whatever she expected to see was not to be found.

Though every bit as weary as the knights she commanded, Arturia carefully suppressed any sign of it, deliberately presenting a vision of strength and poise for the sake of the subjects who needed to believe in her. The sovereign must be the rock upon which the kingdom rested; she must not show frailty and must exude all the virtues of chivalry at all times. Their victory must be nothing short of the expected outcome, as natural as the waves against the white shores of Gwaych, the province the Black Company had successfully defended from corruption.

With measured, graceful steps, the Queen of Britain made her way to the great hall.

[OOC: Prose or action tags are fine, whichever is your preference.]
greyerrant: (The knight of shadows)

[personal profile] greyerrant 2012-08-05 02:34 pm (UTC)(link)
Loken's own shock manages to seep through slightly in his own expression, which is almost always dour outside of his small circle of councilors and honor brothers. How was this possible? He'd only been brought into this time by a summoning from Nero and Medea a few months ago. For a moment, he bristles with visible anger at the implication he betrayed Nero, his eyes blazing with something akin to fury. "No indeed, the Senate overthrew her, and she remained in Britain with her.... close assistant, Medea, despite my best efforts to make Rome receptive to her return. I slew all the traitors that sent assassins against her, sanctioned those that spoke against her in a particularly disloyal fashion, and maintained Rome as she would have had me do. I came here in part to seek her out for advice on what to do, because I have made a move to weaken the remaining Senators who were oppressing the plebeians in Rome by making them answerable with direct elections."

He shifts his weight, a suggestion of anger in his stance now, "And if you know your history, and your legends, then you know I was the last loyal man in a world of traitors, even as my own blood-father Horus turned against our blood-grandfather, the Emperor of Belka. Do you think I'd so easily sell my loyalty to Nero now, after she became my liege lord?" He locks eyes with her, bold, perhaps, but to question his loyalty and his honor is to question all that the last Luna Wolf has left.
greyerrant: (Squinty)

[personal profile] greyerrant 2012-08-05 03:11 pm (UTC)(link)
"Because I felt myself unworthy of the title of Imperator. There have only ever been 2 that I acknowledge the Emperor of Belka and the Rose Empress of Rome. The title of dictator is an old term, and in Rome is used in times of great conflict when a final arbiter is needed. It is a role suited only to be filled for a limited time, until a suitable successor can be found, or, as I had hoped, Nero returned. I took the name because it was one that the people of Rome have found acceptable in the past, before the Emperors, and because it appealed to me as a student of history. I would not stand at the same level as the Empress, or the Emperor, but I could stand as a leader in a time of need, with the clear understanding it was only until the crisis had passed."

He pauses, exhaling and inhaling, his face taking on a more grave, and less furious cast, "I do not know where she is. When last I spoke with her, you, or someone with your face and form, had appointed Nero General of Britain's armies, and she showed no desire to return to her duties as the Empress of Rome." He halts, stopping short of offering any criticism of Nero, except perhaps for the implied stain of shirking her duty, but that was unavoidable given the facts of the circumstance. He looks pained now, obviously even speaking this much about his liege lord's possible failings pained him, and the burdensome mantle of ruling a country has weighed heavily on this warrior's shoulders.
greyerrant: (Looking down.)

[personal profile] greyerrant 2012-08-05 09:11 pm (UTC)(link)
"I suspect you may be right. I have a link to her.... but of late it has somehow faded. It was my hope to pick up the trail here, and find and help her before it was too late."

He conceals his own concern. With his Master gone, Loken may not have much time left. So strengthening the ties between Rome and Britain were his only priority. "As far as recognition, I understand. Amestris and Sawa seem to be about to have a rupture, I watched the two co-Emperors and their treatment of each other closely, and I have... friends among the Sawan nobles that indicated things are about to take a turn for the worse. I came here to tell you to prepare for the possibility of a war within Dagaria, but you look to have just come from a fight against the Rift. Tell me, what sort of foes have you been fighting?"
greyerrant: (Squinty)

[personal profile] greyerrant 2012-08-06 01:03 am (UTC)(link)
"Indeed, but it is now gone." He shakes his head, a bit of the emotional and physical loss of his master momentarily bleeding into his expression, mostly around his eyes.

"If you need aid, I have raised a force specifically to fight the Rift Abominations known as the Crusade Company. They are from all over Dagaria, and I have seen fit to let Jeanne D'arc command them when I am occupied with my duties in Rome. I will send word to her, if there are still battles left to be fought."

He notices her paling, and is momentarily bemused, for Garviel is unable to feel fear entirely, it having been removed from his palette of emotions by conditioning and magical means. He assumes only shock, and perhaps disgust, and says to Arturia, "Something is wrong?"

greyerrant: (Grey Angel)

[personal profile] greyerrant 2012-08-06 03:24 pm (UTC)(link)
Garviel nods his head, somewhat reassured by her words. They are spoken like those of Sigismund the Black Knight, First Templar and Champion of his blood-uncle Lord Dorn, who Loken resembled in temperment in many ways more than his dramatic, flashy blood father, Horus Lupercal. To speak to Arturia is similar to speaking to an honor brother in the old days, and that is something that he can appreciate.

"More threats always will present themselves, until the Rift is closed. I suspect we'll always see corruption trickling forth slowly most of the time, with the occasional wave of foulness washing over the Riftguard countries."

Her words about the question of the impostor strike a chord in the grizzled Astartes, and he pauses, choosing his words carefully. "You have the oaths of myself and my brothers that none shall hear of this from us, until you give us leave to speak the truth. I... understand how difficult it is to known a dangerous truth, and be unable to spread it without causing a wider panic." He halts for a moment after that, thinking back to his undertaking to Aldurukh, and the mixture of treachery and loyalty that he'd found there, most of all he remembers the horror of seeing one loyal warrior of the Emperor cut another loyal knight down because of the need for secrecy. "My heart urges me to tell you to keep honor and tell as much of the truth as you can, and all of it if you dare. However, I have a suggestion. If you can find, expose, and properly sanction your impersonator before the news has spread too widely, or when you officially proclaim what has happened here that may well mitigate the effect. I am by nature a line soldier, a Captain of warriors, unschooled in the intricacies of politics, but I've been forced to learn how to handle..." Another pause, "Public opinion of late. Presenting your people with both the cause of their uncertainty and a properly punished criminal at the same time may wall prove to be advantageous, because it will reinforce your position as a strong and just ruler, even under difficult circumstances."

Garviel frowns, aware of a possible breach in protocol and says, "Forgive me, that must seem presumptuous. I am a warrior, and I speak to you as a warrior, but you are a monarch and I must honor and respect that." He bows deeply, in a gesture that seems apologetic somehow, bowing enough so that his fairly massive form, bulked out by his armor, is at least briefly bowing below Arturia's chin, somewhat dimunitive in size though she is compared to him."
Edited 2012-08-06 15:24 (UTC)
greyerrant: (The knight of shadows)

[personal profile] greyerrant 2012-08-07 03:28 am (UTC)(link)
"No, but I have a mind to ask the Arcaniss Institute if such a thing is possible. They managed to cure a plague in Dagaria with significant cooperation from the magical community, enlisting them in this endeavour ought not to be too difficult, particularly if I offer them permanent facilities in Onylith."

He walks with her, and while reassured by her words of equality, it would seem he is used to standing as an advisor in court, and a battle-captain in the field.

His face and form is cast into shadow as he looks away from the hearth for a moment. Arturia has taken him into her confidence in a significant way with such an admission, so he shares one with her, "I have known such strife with my kinsmen as well. My own mournival brothers slew each other at Istvaan, before the end. That is where my story ends, historically, though it was not the end of my life. Do you know where we could seek her out, to establish whether or not this was her doing, and to bring her to trial if it was?"

Edited 2012-08-07 03:28 (UTC)
greyerrant: (Grey Angel)

No worries.

[personal profile] greyerrant 2012-08-10 04:01 pm (UTC)(link)
"I have an idea regarding that, and a weapon with which to enact an assault against the Rift, when the time comes, but the practical concern of how to mend the rift must be addressed before I shed the blood of Rome, or the Blood of the Crusade company to attack it, or there will be no lasting victory."

He nods, and seems inclined to say more, to sympathize from his own history, but thinks better of it, instead, standing silent and stoic. He simply looks at Arturia, trying to puzzle out what he can from her stance, her armor, her blade. Trying to see if there are differences in body language between the seeming impostor that he knew, and the real King of Knights.
greyerrant: (Confused)

[personal profile] greyerrant 2012-08-21 08:46 pm (UTC)(link)
"I believe we have an understanding then. I will bid you good day, and good luck in putting things to rights here. You have the oaths of me and my men already, so I expect we'll see each other again soon enough, in the field or at court."
He frowns, then decides to bow, clearly unsure of how to excuse himself from the presence of an equal. Most of the time he just says what he has to, then strides out, not thinking highly of Sawa or Amestris' ruler, seeing the regent of the Nameless states as a boy to be watched over, and seeing Char as a brother in arms, with all the easy comradeship and lack of formality that such a thing entailed. After the bow, he and his retinue begin to slowly withdraw, unsure if turning their backs on the King of Knights would be considered an insult, the armored sons of Ultramar walk a bit awkwardly back after their own bows.