open | The Commander's Audience at the Palace of Landed Sky

[alderwood]

Characters: The Ironwood Emperor Alderwood Commander and anyone who came to speak with the Ironwood Emperor.
Date: June 15th
Location: The Palace of Landed Sky
Situation: The expected holding of an audience for any that care to speak with the Ironwood Emperor, though they will be met instead by the Alderwood Commander.
Warnings/Rating: N/A; to be updated if necessary

The hall is still and white, strung with softly glowing lanterns that are strung up high beyond reach. Outside, the sun is at its zenith, and it filters down through the cloudy glass roof to create a brilliant, nearly blinding ambiance.

The floor is marble, inlaid with mother-of-pearl and ruby quartz. It catches the light, and casts strange patterns on the walls.

The room itself is almost eerily silent. No noise, no echoes. No one and nothing vaguely human, excepting the presence of Evandau. The Alderwood Commander stands before the Emperor's empty throne with patient expression and posture reminiscent to the at-ease bearing of a soldier. He waits to receive the petitioners, kedan and Foreigner alike, in Eshai's place this day. As with her audiences, those wishing to make their case must approach him and he will make not move to shorten the distance between the grand entryway and the throne that he defends.

The 'audience' is an open one, and no one will be turned away. So come one, come all, to the Palace of Landed Sky.

[Actionspam or prose are both acceptable! The Emperor has delegated the audience to Evandau this month and he has been temporarily granted many of the authorities that she naturally holds. Why is that? Well, telling y'all would be too easy, wouldn't it?

Characters will only be admitted into the hall one by one, so there won't be anyone present for anyone else's conversations, and there won't be any 'mingling' in the chamber itself.

By popular demand, we continue to allow mingling for those waiting for an audience in an antechamber. There is a thread header below to allow for that!]

Comments

AUDIENCE

[alderwood]

AUDIENCE

[bindsthedead]

[Sabriel bows briefly as she enters the chamber dressed in the nicest clothes she can find. If she's surprised to see Evandau, it doesn't show.]

I have two requests.

[alderwood]

[He simply nods. Requests are simple, but he must know details before he can grant or deny.]

Speak. Succinctly, if possible.

[disfavored]

[Tarrlok isn't so sure he should be here, and knows that if h is allowed to see his future he'll likely only be confirming his worst fears. But, it bothers him that Korra and Noatak know things that he doesn't know, and confirming his fate can't be much worse than being left in the dark about it.

With him he has a few waterbending scrolls he drew up himself - nothing fancy, as he's not a professional artist, but functional. It's his opinion that if he's stuck here against his will he should be entitled to his own future at no cost, but being stubborn hasn't really gotten him anywhere here.]

Greetings. [He gives a small bow, out of politeness.] I've come to discuss an exchange.

[alderwood]

[Evandau inclines his head to the bow - a return of manners and respect.]

Name your terms.

[wintershepherd]

[ Oddly enough when Jack enters the audience chamber and sees that it's not Eshai today, he actually brightens a little bit, crossing the room to a respectable distance. He's slowly getting the hang of not fumbling over banalities when he makes these visits, but he can't help but offer a small greeting. ]

Hello again. It's good to see you around.

[ then, on topic: ]

I wanted to ask about how you've been showing people their futures, if I could.

[alderwood]

[A crisp nod. Evandau recalls him and offers that courtesy gesture to his greeting.]

Magic. [A grim, dry reply.] The how is unimportant to many, though. Why do you seek that information?

[constants]

[ The Archive is dressed in the sort of formal clothes she would wear for any official function of her position. Instead of anything cute, she wears a simple, dark grey dress of nice fabric, and a lighter grey cloak held closed with a silver pin. The seriousness of her clothes balance out her youth and she manages to look much more the part of five thousand years of knowledge.

She approaches and stops a proper distance away, posture straight. She inclines her head at Evandau, as it's not in her nature to bow. ]

I am the Archive, and I have come to request access to the library. I am willing to provide payment if necessary for such a thing.

[alderwood]

[This one is... young. Yet, she speaks with a title and with diction beyond the simplicity of her apparent age. Evandau is no stranger to the concept of age defying years, but this is different as far as Foreigners go.]

Why do you seek this? An archive, by definition, is well equipped with information already.

[dracobin]

[Temeraire wastes no time in bridging the gap between door and throne by air. He had not been reprimanded for it the first time, and so he sees no reason why he should not do it again.

He is clearly startled, however, by the presence of an unfamiliar man at the far end of the room, and his ruff snaps back for a moment before he gathers himself again.]

Where is the Emperor?

[alderwood]

[Evandau watches the arrival with caution, unfamiliar with the body language of a dragon. This one displays a measure of surprise, by his words, but he will not unduly assume beyond that.]

Eshai is busy elsewhere. I act as her proxy today.

Re: AUDIENCE

[fearlessherosheart]

[Tazendra bows. She's actually dressed up, as best she can do, which means mostly in local clothing.]

Commander. I wish to ask a question. And, in truth, you may even be a better person to answer it than the Emperor.

[It still felt peculiar calling a foreign person Emperor, when Tazendra still remembered her Empress* and the oath she had sworn to her. Still, even foreigners had to govern themselves.]

[* OOC: we don't know if Dragaeran has gendered nouns (and thus a distinction between Empress and Emperor), but we do know that 'female Emperor' and 'Emperor's wife' are different words. And let's use the correct account this time]

[heartofgraces]

[Asbel salutes formally as he comes in, dressed as...formally as he could arrange.]

...I had some questions about Tu Vishan's illness, if it isn't out of place to ask them.

AUDIENCE

[excessivehubris]

[Charles sat in the antechamber and politely waited his turn. He heard murmurings, low level about the Emperor not taking the visitors and he frowned, pensively as he considered his options.

When he was motioned to take his turn, Charles pushed away from the wall and made his way into the hall.

Despite having been here before, this would mark his first official visit to the palace and he took his time moving from doorway, towards the throne. His cane clicked softly on the marble floor, in painstaking time with each careful step and though Evandau was not who Charles had sought an audience with, he offered the man a polite smile.]

Good afternoon. Might I ask with whom do I speak?

CU

[imaginate]

He’s aware he’s breaking a personal rule. It was unwise - and furthermore, unnecessary - to know one’s future. Actually the word he wanted was selfish - if Bucky was right, if they were just snapshots and somebody else back home might be carrying out, and dammit, he didn’t want to have to think or be responsible about time for once, because it meant Blackest Night.

If he wanted to change his destiny, he had to know it first, right? One possible course?

It’s with that in mind that he steps into the palace. He’s been here for months and never bothered coming - he knows better than to waste the time of royalty with information he could obtain from other sources. And he’d never been much of a diplomat anyway. Still, he wears his uniform, altered: no mask. He’s dulled the green, and added more black, so that it looks less blinding. He is not intending to upstage anyone.

When he spots Evandau he waits patiently nearby for his turn, as close to parade rest as he can manage. He knows a military man when he sees one, and he knows the do not screw around air when he senses it, too.

‘Sir. Is it possible to meet with the Emperor today? If not, may I make two requests of you?’

Kyle doesn’t provide his name, which isn’t out of rudeness, he is merely getting straight to the point so this man can get back to work.

[dungfu]

[Hm, Amaterasu has had an official audience all sorts of royalty before, though someone high up in the ranks of soldiers is new. So she adopts her best relaxed posture.

She's a god in the shape or a wolf, he is a very powerful soldier. A physical battle can be best avoided with a casual bearing, because she's not here to fight. She's just here for the good of the people. Even if it means actually speaking.]

Good day.

[oathwalk]

Richard has been forewarned a little of what the Emperor is like. She does not like her time wasted, obsequiousness, evasion; she values directness and confidence. This man Richard does not know is a surprise, but one he registers at a distance, and the flicker of expression is gone by the time he crosses the space. He approaches as he would any meeting with a fellow leader or their deputy, confidant and attentive. Richard wants to understand the leaders here. Peace and security are made much more difficult by misunderstanding and deception.

"Greetings. I am Richard of Windor." This man's stance reminds Richard of his own knight commanders at ease, and he recalls mention of the Alderwood Commander Evandau, who at times takes the Emperor's place in audiences. It gives him a very strong guess of with whom he might be speaking. "I have an inquiry with a proposal to prepare the Foreigners for the threat that is coming to Tu Vishan, or which has perhaps already come."

AUDIENCE

[lostundercover]

Costigan entered wary beyond description, not fond of the Emperor and expecting that she was even less fond of him. He had questions that needed answering and was hoping that the woman, no matter how displeased she was, might be willing to answer some. When he entered and saw Evandau instead of the Emperor, it both surprised and disappointed him. Suspicion and fear shot through his spine, instantly assuming the worst, that perhaps the Emperor was ill and Evandau was taking her place as a default response.

Nothing but a degree of tension registered on his face. The undercover moved forward to what he believed to be an appropriate distance, some yards away, before he froze. His gaze darted about, looking for soldiers and cameras, before returning to the man.

"Commander."

[sophos]

[Annabeth skipped the last audience, after what happened with Eshai and seeing her future, but she's got to every other one so far. There's a pretense and habitual effort to keep up. Percy's waiting for her invisibly in the antechamber, and when she enters the throne room, she cants her head in mild surprise and raises an eyebrow at Evandau again.]

[She approaches regardless and kind of skips all the formalities.] Emperor Eshai too busy again?

[refusing]

[Rose is nervous about being here, but nothing is going to stop her from taking the chance to get some questions answered. She enters the chamber with shaky footing, but gains confidence as she makes her way toward the throne. She stops a decent distance away, and unsure of what sort of move she should make next, she fidgets. She ducks down into a curtsy, a gesture that Queen Victoria seemed to appreciate. So why not this guy, too?]

Sorry, I just haven't ever done anything like this before. Got no idea what to do.

[And now that she's embarrassed herself, she just jumps right into why she's here.]

Right, so I've got a couple of questions, if that's okay?

[bondsprofoundly]

[Yeah, Cas is pretty suspicious of the fact that the Emperor isn't around; is her reluctance to meet with them connected to the fact that they are slowly gaining information regarding the oncoming threat? That text post made the other day was extremely enlightening, and Cas wants to see if he can get some answers the diplomatic way before he tries anything drastic.

Once he's allowed into the audience chamber, Cas looks at the Commander. He doesn't know what he appreciates by way of approach, so he'll just have to behave how he always does.]

Why does the Emperor guard information regarding the enemy so closely?

AUDIENCE - the latest ;-;

[notdreaming]

[ Kara approaches uncertainly, but she has made her decision. She has plenty to offer. She steps forward. ]

Um. Hello.

Laaaaate :'(

[inseine]

[Javert, when he approaches with his hat in his hands and bends deeply in his typical respectful bow, is surprised to find the Captain of the Guard in the chamber rather than Madame Emperor. He fixes a furrowed brow on the man, yet he keeps his head held high and his gaze calm and seemingly above reproach.]

Monsieur the Captain, [he begins in his customary abrupt manner.] Will you hear my monthly report in Madame's stead? Or would you prefer a copy in writing?

ANTECHAMBER

[alderwood]

Don't mind me...

[heartofgraces]

[In the antechamber, after his audience, Asbel has stopped to collect his thoughts, and to once again adjust to the extra presence in his mind. He is clearly distracted and not entirely paying attention, but it will pass soon enough.

Unless someone decides to ask him why he's standing in the middle of the antechamber and staring into space, at least.]