[PLOT] Movement from the Earth (Naiad Court)

[Antidia]

The Queen of the Naiads sat on her coral throne, slumped over on the side with her cheek leaning against her closed hand. Her elbow propped her up and she just stared towards the door of the throne room. Her thin fins moved ever so slightly with the small current that was flowing through the large and open room of the temple.

She heaved a very large and dramatic sigh as she turned to look towards her Second, Lady Aeroniel. Her free hand was lazily poking and teasing a passing fish.

"What do you suppose those hooved pae are up to? There's been a lot of activity and energy flowing over that tree. I want to know what they're doing. I had to test one of them for Rais wife contest. Can you believe that? Testing the girls to marry one... as if." Tariel was rambling to anyone who'd listen, even if she was looking towards Aeroniel.

There were others present. They were all waiting. Waiting on word from the spy they sent to find out what was going on at the big tree.

((Feel free to have your Naiad be present at court. Present there should be the Queen on her throne, Lady Aeroniel to her right, and Captain Turin to her left.

The throne room is absolutely HUGE. A whale could easily swim through to interrupt, if the lake had whales. The throne is in front of a giant globe containing the Water Element. The architecture is grecian in style, marble, tall columns, archways, gold accents. But there is seaweed and algae all over it too. The marble has a natural glow, which keeps the temple illuminated at all times, especially at the depths they are.

They are on the bottom floor of the huge temple.

They sit on coral or shell chairs. ))  

[Dementia Requiem Asumi]

Ocie rolled his eyes, smiling as the queen rambled. "It sounds like a very boring life in store for the young lady in question, Queen Tariel." He suppressed a chuckle, fluttering his glass looking wings under the water. It was always a habit for him to keep them moving wherever he was.

The young male flitted a bit closer to her, elaborate fins flowing freely in the waters in her throne room. He could never get over the craftsmanship of the place. It was amazing down here, even to the kid who couldn't bring himself to care about anything. That was one nice thing about his mother. She was so evil he had just learned not to care. Or was she crazy? Ocie shook his head, now wasn't the time to think about others. Queen Tariel looked bored out of her mind.

 

[Antidia]

Zoran sat in the back of the throne room, not being one to actually join in on politics. He was there out of respect for his father. Well, not respect, but he had valid reasons. He tended to tail his father a lot these days.

He wasn't here for the politics. He could care less what trouble the Queen was getting in again. But by the looks of it, she was behaving herself today. Her boredom amused him for some reason.

The sheer size of the throne room made it difficult to hear what they were saying, but it didn't matter. He was here to observe.  

[Menelie]

Kelebek had also followed the Queen's captain here. Like she always did. Lately he'd been spending more time with Zoran, or at least Zoran had been spending time with his father, and Kelebek supposed that was good. She'd always worried a little bit that Turin didn't consider their children his children. And she'd tried to never be pushy; she knew of Turin's important position as Captain of the Guard, and she'd certainly done fine raising their three tadpoles to adults, with only occasional help from Turin. But....she still wished he'd think of her as something other than the-woman-whose-children-he'd-contributed-genetic-material-to.

Kelebek sighs and tries to shove her emotional issues aside and listen to what's going on. She can feel that something important was happening. She'd been vaguely around when the visitor from above with appendages even more strange than the ones she gets when she goes on land (a practice she hasn't exactly made a habit of) had come down to speak with the Queen. And of course the Queen had felt that something important was happening, so Kelebek wants to listen. She'd positioned herself on the side of the room, within hearing of the Queen, but mostly out of sight behind a pillar. She doesn't want to make Turin uncomfortable with her presence.  

[Menelie]

"Hey," says Toli, swimming up to his brother. "What'd'you s'pose is goin' on?" His eyes flick back and forth between the Queen and her attendant and his and Zoran's father. "Looks awful official." He flashes a smile.  

[Teigra]

Ever the dutiful guard, Captain Turin flicked his tail idly from time to time, hovering in place to the left the Queen's throne. His spear was in hand and his senses were on high alert for any threats that might make themselves known. They wouldn't be getting past the Captain of the Guards, that was for sure.

His eyes tracked everyone who entered the throne room, noting identities and locations, before dismissing them as threats and moving to the next. He hadn't failed to notice his family members entering the room. Perhaps they weren't the perfect, stereotypical family, but, hey...considering the unusual circumstances to blame for the creation of the union, he thought he'd done well enough compensating, as well as trying to balance his duty to the Queen, with his duty to his new family.

For now, work came first. It was more than his duty to his Queen; it was his duty to his people as a whole that hung in the balance tonight. While he couldn't have volunteered for the fin work on this one, he did have things he could do. He begrudgingly had to admit: his bright coloring didn't exactly make him ideal for subtle, secretive work. Everyone had their roles. Security would be his.  

[Teigra]

A rich, deep pink Aernyn slipped up silently behind a pair of males, grinning to herself before she grabbed them each by the shoulder, and propped her head up between theirs.

"'Toli! Zo-Zo! What's up, bros?" She giggled, drifting backwards now that she'd made her entrance. She peered around her brothers, and tilted her head. "What's going on? I see Dad's pulling bodyguard duty; must be something major."

Glancing behind, she raised an eyebrow. "Also, either you have a clue why Mom's trying to pretend she's a column? Or just meld into that one?"  

[Teigra]

A bright red and gold Naiad lingered at the edges of the gathering group, her blue eyes darting back and forth beneath dark auburn tresses. Her scales shimmered like fire, and yet, she seemed unwilling to draw much attention to herself. While the lake had always been her home, it had seemed natural for her to migrate into the risen temple...however, she still felt like an intruder in someone else's domain. These foreign Aernyn Naiads from the sea...they were nice enough now, but...their ways were definitely different from the way Serefina had grown up as an Isle Naiad.

Then again, there wasn't much 'normal' about the way Serefina had grown up, she had to admit. Multiple form changes, friends coming and going to the point that she basically grew up on her own...well, it was no small wonder she hadn't turned out some kinda' crazy.

At least now, there were other Naiads around most of the time, even if the temple lifestyle took some getting used to. They hadn't minded Serefina joining them here, so that was something. She'd heard word that something major was happening, perhaps something to do with the Isle, and though there wasn't much to go on, she felt she should be here, at least to hear what was going on. She wasn't sure if she'd be much help, but she was here to offer...if they'd accept her.  

[Menelie]

Toli shrugs. "She always gets all nervous and stuff around Dad. It's almost like she's afraid he doesn't like her." He laughs at this absurd notion. Surely his parents were madly in love. That's why he and his brother and sister existed, surely.  

[Antidia]

Zoran had not expected to have company this far back in the throne room. He would have thought his brother and sister would prefer to hear what's going on. So when Anatolio swam up behind him, it was a bit of an unexpected shock. He only jumped, a little.

"Hi Toli. I don't know what's going. The Queen is bored about something so uhh... she needed to call court?" He shrugged his shoulders, but then felt a small hand, which he knew was not his brother's. He jumped, again.

This guy certainly needs to calm down or cut out the stimulants.

"Moana-" her question about mom interrupted anything he was about to say to his sister regarding her surprise appearance. Well, it wasn't a surprise he supposed, dad was here afterall. "Mom's here too?"

He glanced around. She was right, mom was over there hiding and trying to blend in to the pillar. "Why would dad not like her? That's just silly..."  

[Antidia]

Tariel watched as naiad swam in and out of the room, congregated, whispered and speculated. She did not usually hide court business from the naiad, so the court was open to anyone who wished to bare witness.

But this waiting game, waiting for her spy to return, was getting boring. She had a momentary flash of her hunter being caught, and eaten for feast by the faun, but quickly shook her head. No, faun are supposed to be our allies. I think.

The sound of a new voice pulled Tari from her daydreams. "Excuse me? Oh! Yes, likely boring. Highly silly." she sat up to look at the stranger that was addressing her so casually. He was young, and very unique in appearance. She had never seen a naiad with such fancy fins. The looked different from even her own, which in themselves were unique compared to the natives of this island. He intrigued her.

"I'm afraid you have me a disadvantage young sir. You know who I am, but I don't know who you are." She held her hand out, as she usually did when meeting new pae.  

[Dementia Requiem Asumi]

Ocie smiled, kissing the queen's offered hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you Queen Tariel. My name is Ocie, son of Leitha." The teen was pleased that she was looking him over in such a manner. He was an oddity, even amongst the sea naiads down here. He'd never seen another with fins like his, or wings at all.

"They're wings, not fins." His smile turned to a smirk, letting the gentle currents spread his elaborate wings for her to see. "I'm far more different than you see here. I'd gladly show you after you finish with this meeting if you'd like." The boy offered, crimson eyes on her own green ones.

 

[Menelie]

Itsaso flits into the crowd, staying near-ish to the back, but away from the brightly-colored trio. Siblings, they must be, by the look of it. Hmph. Itsaso never really liked crowds. She preferred to be on her own. A lone huntress, as it were. Still, it wasn't often that the Queen called a gathering like this, so Itsaso figured it was important.  

[HelMel]

A silence overtook the room as a cloaked figure made his way towards the throne. Casting aside the cloth, Sadron shook out his mohawk and nodded curtly toward Tariel. "Your highness. I see you've gathered everyone for this meeting."

The naiad was not particularly thrilled to not speak over this information in private with the council members first, but the Queen was taken to impulsive notions. It was her most endearing quality, so the warrior could not argue. He was resigned to inciting mass panic, as it was the wishes of his liege.

Clearing his throat, Sadron scanned the room. Good, Turin was present. He of all Naiads was most important in the bearing of this news. Sadron also noted Aeroniel's absence; where could Tari's second in command be? Maybe she was running reconnaissance the same way he had been. He somehow doubted this, as court naiads rarely left the palace. Bunch of softies, all of them. He could teach them all a thing or two about roughing it in the open ocean. This lake life threatened to make pansies of them all.

"There has been talk of the furred ones waging war. This has been confirmed on this night by the Tree Witch. I have heard her words myself and seen her as she burned her element. She, who would then openly mock the element of water, by pretending friendship with our Queen. She, who would then warn the Tree Beasts to prepare for battle. We must prepare ourselves, mi'lady, so that we are not taken by surprise. These 'Fauns' would have us usher in the Sixth Age through the blood of our children and brothers."

The hunter waved a teal hand at the the masses to emphasize the importance of this news. War meant lives lost, despite the level of proper training. War meant his blade would pierce skin again in the worst kind of way. Fuzzy bastards, he thought to himself bitterly of the faun-kind.  

[Antidia]

Leitha. The Queen pondered that name, noting that she'd heard it somewhere before, but not being able to place it. She quirked a brow when Ocie seemed to be reading her mind, knowing she was thinking about his unique fins. Could he read minds?

Purple jellyfish. She thought, trying to test his mind reading ability.

"Perhaps." She said with a gentle nod, a slightly mischievous twist to her smile and a wink.

Her hunter entering the court caught her attention so she sat up quickly, eager for his news. "Sadron." she said in greeting. "Yes, I'd like everyone to know about the land dwellers." Tariel opened most political matters for Naiad to be present, so that there would never be question of why she made the decisions she did. She wanted her people to be as aware as they could be.

She knew certain matters needed to remain private until figured out, but she really had no idea about the news Sadron was about to relay. She truly had thought the Faun were their allies, based on the correspondence from the Chief's own mother.

"War? Are you certain?" She lifted off her throne, putting her hand on her head and tried to think. "Sadron, this can't be true, can it?"

She started pacing in front of her hunter, then turned to look towards Turin because he would know what they should do. She trusted Sadron more than land-dwelling pae. But what Sadron was saying did not seem right. She felt foolish for trusting the Faun.

But they seemed nice...

But there was a lot she did not know about them still.

She regretted having this gathering be open. She hoped Sadron's words would not incite panic. She looked out at the gathered Naiads. She didn't know what to say to instill confidence.

"My fellow naiads, we must be wary of the land-dwellers. More information must be gathered before we can decide a proper course of action. Do nothing to show fear or incite conflict, but be on guard."