YoE 507 A.I.
Darius entered the Vahnic Village Office Building with a particular idea on his mind: avoid a direct answer. His Captain, Thomas Zahare had made a startling discovery, a new group of elves in the south that were very different from their Aethen counterparts.
"Evening, Captain Zahare."
"Honorable Protector, Lord Darius, I extend a formal hello to you." responded Zahare in the most formal and polite manner possible. "Permission for-"
"Yes, yes; permission granted to talk in layman's terms."
Stroking his growing grey beard, Zahare spoke: "Thank you sir. As you know a recent mission has established informal contact and the obvious discovery of a new group of elves who style themselves as the Vulcites of the Vulca Region. Our vessel was accompanied by a cultural officer who described the elves as 'Southern Dry Elves', incredibly different from the northern snow elves."
"Yes, it seems so. How did the encounter go? Any injuries?" responded Darius.
"Our ship dispatched a few smaller boats to land on the shores, but we were quickly intercepted by a band of Vulcites on board their own boats approaching us." Zahare continued with a sigh, "The conversation was peaceful until one of them flashed a small knife to their leader after yelling something in their elven tongue; Distinguished Explorer Lila Ura broke command and fired a shot from her bow, it killed no one, but it did hit their boat. They demanded we hand her over or they kill us all."
"Well, what happened Captain? Don't leave me in suspense."
Zahare with a heavy look in his eyes said "We handed her over." Looking away Zahare continued, "They told us to bring our leader for a formal negotiation for Miss Ura."
"Who is this Miss Ura? Give me details on her: Family, age, etcetera." responded Darius with a worried look on his aging face.
"A twenty three year old from a wealthy family who live in Concordia. She loved a commoner who was a sailor stationed in port and was caught with him in some not so responsible acts. Her family disowned her and severed her from the will, so she moved across the world to Laghima where she enlisted in the company. She was happily engaged to a Karsite named Erdo Asar, and their wedding was supposed to be last week."
"Tragic. Truly tragic." with a heavy sigh and the wipe of an eye Darius said, "Notify the Naval Register to prepare another ship for you, my son, and I. We are going to the Vulca Regions"
YoE 508 A.I.
Darius and Thomas Zahare arrived in the Vulcite Region with a much more impressive welcoming party than last time: trained archers from strategic spots accompanied by several swordsman in full armor were watching the whole scene unfold. In a not so great show of power, Darius, his son Howard, and Zahare met their welcoming party on the illustrious shores of Vulca.
A male Vulcite approached the party with two guards at his side, "Humans, Mercurians, welcome. We elves have not seen one of you since we arrived in these lands in over 400 years ago." with a forced smile on his face, he continued: "I am Alec Ihaa, husband of Lady Theodora Ihaa, leader of these lands. Who might you gentlemen be?"
"I am Darius Stark, leader of the closest realm and Protector of the company that met you initially." taking a quick break, Darius introduced his own party: "This is my heir and first born son, Howard Stark. The man to my right is Captain Thomas Zahare, you may recognize him from your initial encounter with my company."
"Very well, Lady Theodora will be pleased I hope. Follow me."
Alec Ihaa, the first Southern Dry Elf to formally speak to a Mercurian was an odd man, he seemed to be in constant fear of Darius and his party, constantly whispering to his guards in his tongue, which happened to be known simply as Vulcite. None the less, he was a good host considering the reputation native elves have, and his Common Mercurian was very well.
"Lord Darius, honorable Howard Stark, and sir Zahare, I present to you my wife, our blessed ruler, Lady Theodora Ihaa, The last bastion of the Elven nobility from the times of Yore." said Alec in an official voice.
"Thank you dear husband, now leave my presence." her voice was feminine, as one would expect, but it carried a bit of heaviness that describes a seasoned and experienced ruler. "You must be the Lord of Laghima, Darius. Welcome to Vulca."
"Thank you my lady. It is my pleasure to present my eldest son and heir, Howard Stark. Accompanying us is one of my men, Captain Thomas Zahare, who was in charge of Miss Ura during the, er, incident." with a small grin on his face, "But come, before we settle into the sadder aspects of this meeting, let us establish formal communications."
"I agree sir. I have ruled these lands, named Vulca, for several years now. I inherited the throne from my feeble father at the young age of seventeen and have ruled well into my fifties. I can see you have done so to." with her own grin now on her face, she continued "Good sirs Darius and Howard, I would like to present to you my own children. Come, children."
Entering the room were two of the most beautiful women the company had ever laid eyes on, and a little child no older than Howard's son.
"This is Sappho and Alda. Sappho is my heir, and heir to the dynasty of the elves. The little one is Talia, the eventual ruler of these lands one day after her mother." now looking at Darius and Howard, Theodora continued: "I see a look in both of your eyes, what do you see in Talia?"
"Nothing good Lady, I myself have my own child at the same age as her. Remarkable seeing the little ones." responded Howard
"Ah yes, I am in agreement. What is his name?" responded Sappho
"Darius, named after his grandfather of course."
"Indeed, the children are our future." said Theodora, "Let us continue in the important matters however. Your realm of Laghima is our closest neighbor and only source of information to this Empire of Man-"
"Mercurian Empire, Lady Theodora. The Empire respects all races and people." interrupted Darius.
"Yes, Mercurian Empire. Since Laghima is our closet neighbor, we would like you to open formal relations with Vulca as an imperial state, and in turn we will do the same."
"You're asking to be recognized as an imperial realm. It takes years to be recognized, I would know since I lead one of the most recent states to be recognized. Even if I agreed, I alone could not recognize you, it requires the Council of the Crowned's approval." replied Darius
"Interesting. Until we are recognized formally by someone, we refuse to turn over Miss Ura." she said with a sigh, "You and your family are permitted to visit whenever you want. Just your family though. Goodbye gentlemen."
Darius and his company were sent away back to their vessel and they arrived in Laghima and a few weeks later. The company was still confused about the whole ordeal and the true motives behind it all:
"Father, are you going to return as per her wishes?" asked Howard "Perhaps we should bring young Darius along, she showed some interest in him."
"Yes, we will leave again soon and that is not a bad idea, young Darius does need to see the world. Though as always our main priority is retrieving Miss Ura. In whatever way possible."
_________________ Hasan 'Darius V' Stark
Protector of the Vahnic Exploration Company Ilkhan of Greater Karastan-Laghima
|