A Visit to Vers

[Anvael Andares]

Summer, Era XIV Post Fractum

Vers.

Anvael couldn’t resist the temptation and stuck his head out of the small window of his carriage to look at the city where he had gotten his first arcana lessons a couple of eras ago.

Not much had changed – except that he was a Governor now and not an aspiring prefect.

Was that fae that had taught him Ikos still employed at the academy?

Were they still looking for a prefect or had they finally found someone?

Would those that counted in this city give him a warm welcome?

He returned to his seat and furrowed his brow. Taralon and Vers didn’t like each other, and Taralon didn’t like mages. Those mage regulators had given him a headache of tremendous proportions, and because of them he had chosen to hide the fact that he too was a mage, albeit only an initiate of a sphere that most people considered useless …

And yet he was here now. The orcs had used mages when they attacked the Empire. There weren’t enough mages in Taralon, none in the Provincial Army. If they wanted to win this war, they needed them, needed mages that were powerful enough to make a difference, regardless of Mage Regulators or not. The people of Taralon would have to accept that – or die.

It would be his first visit to Vers since he had become Governor. Taralon had kept him busy for the past couple of cycles. Since he had no idea how the people would treat him, he had brought a little over a dozen guards – and his two personal bodyguards. A Governor needed a proper escort anyway.

“Where to?” the driver asked as they neared the gate.

Anvael took a few moments to think about it.

“To the Thane, first of all. The main purpose of this visit is to talk to the mages, but we don’t want the Thane to think we are ignoring him or considering other people more important. We will pay him a visit now and go to the Imaden School of Higher Learning afterwards. Besides, he might have something interesting to say.”

[Steve]

When they reached the Gate, a Guard stepped into the middle of the road and put up his hand, signalling the procession to halt.

A second Guard stood at the side of the road.

[Anvael Andares]

„Apparently we’ll have to explain ourselves like all other people“, Anvael observed as one of the guards stepped into the middle of the road.

“Maybe they’ll give us problems”, Gregory, the young swordsman that had accompagnied the elf from Lauryll murmurred.

Anvael laughed. “Don’t be a fool. If Vers wanted to give us problems, there’d be more than two. These are no orcs. They wouldn’t be so foolish as to give a Governor such treatment.”

The bodyguard shrugged his shoulders, and Anvael gave one of his guards a sign to step forward and explain the situation.

At first he’d wanted to do it himself, but his men had insisted that this would be below him, that a Governor just didn’t greet the guards and say serale like a normal citizen, at least not when he was accompagnied by so many warriors that were better suited for that job.

The one that met the guard in the middle of the road was a human, middle aged and quite unremarkable looking with his brown hair and brown eyes, but the uniform he wore told people that it was better not to underestimate him.

“The Governor of Sherian”, the man said. “On his way to see His Grace, the Thane of Vers. Will you let us pass?”

A Governor didn’t really need permission to see one of his Thanes, and there were more than enough men with him to make the single guard in the middle of the road look somewhat ridiculous, but it was always better to be polite.

[Steve]

The Guard snapped a smart salute and said, "The Thane is meeting with the City Council at this time. They ought be near done."

He then gave directions to where the Council was meeting and waved the procession on. When the carriage passed, both Guards snapped a salute to the Governor.

[Anvael Andares]

„To the City Council then“, Anvael told the driver once they had been given permission to pass. He still remembered the location from his last visit to Vers, when he had attempted to gain the position of prefect. He had very little idea what to expect there, where little idea how the Thane would welcome him. He did not know more of him than his name, a few Herald articles and whatever his advisors back in Taralon had been willing to tell.

Upon arriving at the council building, the guards would dismount and announce the Governor of Sherian before somebody opened the door of the carriage for Anvael (who always felt a little strange when people treated him as if he were incapable of doing even the most basic things and only tolerated it because they’d feel offended otherwise).

[Steve]

When the Governor was announced, a Guard at the Council Building came forward, saluted and said, "I will escort His Excellency within. Please follow me." The Guard lead the way opening the doors and leading the way until they reached a room at the end of a hall. There he simply opened the door, allowing the Governor and his escort to enter. He said, "The Governor of Sheria", then shut the door.

Within the room was the Thane of Vers, sitting at a small table. There was one more chair opposite him and on the table was a bottle of wine and two crystal glasses. There were other chairs against the wall. The Thane rose and said, "Serale your Excellency, it is an honor to have you visit Vers".

[Anvael Andares]

Anvael followed the guard into the Council Building while his companions stayed outside. He took a look around, wondering what had changed since his last visit. As they reached the door at the end of the hall, he took a deep breath, stopped for a moment to calm down and entered.

„Good Brightening, Your Grace.“ Some would call the Governor of Sherian a fool, a naive, young boy, but whatecer rumours they had spread about him, the Thane of Vers would find himself facing an elegant looking, polite Esh’lahier.

He sat down opposite the Thane and waited for a few moments in case he wanted to say something before he began.

„The relationship between Taralon and Vers has not been the best in the past, but I seek to ammend that.“

He stopped here and looked into the Thane’s face to see how he would react. A lot depended on whether he was open to the idea of change.

[Fish Stick]

Change? The relationship between the two cities would be nice to change. The Thane of Vers looked towards the elf whom was Governor of Sheria, and then would pour some wine into both of the glasses. "Wine? If you would have some?" he asked, courteously. Looking towards Anveal, he then awaited an answer about the wine. Once that was taken care of, he would then begin about Taralon and Vers's past relationships.

"You ask about our relationships, and I would like to see nothing more than a better relationship between the two of us... They should start accepting Arcana more, it is the life of this country, and they need to understand that not everything can be done by those... gadgets?" he said. He was unsure if he had use the correct word for what those crazy contraptions that were made within Taralon are, but he would hope to learn the names of them at some point...

[Anvael Andares]

„Wine would be most appreciated“, Anvael said. In reality the elf didn’t like alcohol – in whatever form – particularly, preferring a cocktail made from fruits growing in the sun of Eunesia, but he didn’t want to appear weak or impolite. He accepted his glass with a “thank you”, lifted it to his lips and took a slow sip before he put it down again.

“Gadgets”, he confirmed and nodded. “I’ve had some contact with gadgeteers and while their inventions are amazing, I agree that not everything can be done with them. They can’t heal a person, and they can’t do what a mystic can do. It would be best to combine the two. I’ve lived outside of Taralon for a while, and I’ve seen what it is lilke when mages are accepted rather than hunted.”

“Of course the people of Taralon have a point – arcana can be dangerous as well – but in times such as these acceptance of arcana and collaboration with its users is of the utmost importance. Your Grace, Your Governor has need of you and your people.”

“I’ve never been one to beat about the bush. Your Grace, I want some of your mages to accompagny me to Taralon and I want your collaboration. These are dire times, I’m afraid, and the cities of Sherian need to work together rather than against each other.”

[Fish Stick]

As the thane smiled, and gave Anvael the glass of wine, he awaited him to finish his sip, and then allowed him to speak before he gave any form of response. Holding a finger up to his chin for a moment, he sat in thought at Anvael's words, and then looked towards him, and said, "Arcana is an extremely important part of life in Aelyria... and I would expect that gadgets are as well. Perhaps there can be a way that we can make an agreement about the use of gadgets, and arcana in our two cities. I do agree with you about the time at hand. The orcish war looms on our stead, and it would not be wise for our two cities to be bickering amongst themselves, instead of focusing on the main plot at hand..."

Leaning back in his chair for a moment, and debating on the request of Anvael, he grinned, and then said, "I have the perfect three mages i could send with you... they are three young woman, all apprentices in different spheres, sorcery, mysticism, and thaumanturgy. They stick to each other like glue, and are extremely hard to separate. I think that they might do the trick for you... I could send for them if you wish?" After posing his question, he fell silent awaiting an answer from the newly appointed governor...

[Anvael Andares]

„We can certainly come to an agreement“, Anvael said. “I’m thinking about an exchange between Taralon and Vers – although the Thane of Taralon will probably want to say something in this matter as well. Gadgeteers could come to Vers, while Taralon would benefit from your mages. Of course they’d need be convinced that arcana isn’t the evil they think it is first.” He needed to have a word with Malkaer about this as well as this was at least in part the Thane’s territory, but to him it seemed like a good idea to put an end to those hostilities.

It was ridiculous anyway. He was a mage, although not a particularly skilled one and had been forced to hide the fact so far so that the mage hunters wouldn’t come visiting one darkening and force him to live the city.

They seemed to like him for the time being, despite the fact that he was Esh’lahier, but they would hate him if they found out that he had studied Ikos a few eras past. It didn’t make any sense to him. Discrimination never did.

“Apprentices?” he asked. He wasn’t particularly happy about them only being apprentices – he’d hoped for at least one master – but he decided not to mention that right away. “Send for them please. I would like to meet them.”

[Steve]

After some time passed, three young woman arrived. Each was dressed in a hooded light tan colored robe and wore a canvas back pack of the same color. They had several pouches on their belt and each held a stout staff.

The Thane introduced them. "Sheela is the sorcerer, Meela is the Mystic and Theela is the Thaumaturgist. In addition to their skills in Arcana, each them has recently completed level 2 training with the staff.

"They appear ready to go with you."

[Anvael Andares]

„Ladies.“ The Esh’lahier bowed politely to the three young women. “I’m grateful that you are willing to come to Taralon with me. We need all the help we can get. Are you by any chance sisters? I could not help but notice how similiar your names are.” They looked competent enough in their robes and with their staffs. But only apprentices! What kind of mages did the orcs have?

“Your Grace.” He turned back to the Thane. “I’m glad for your support and that you too think we should put our previous hostilities behind us.” It would have been a bother to deal with inner provincial conflicts while there were thousands of orcs waiting on their doorstep. One problem was enough. He was glad that the Thane of Vers seemed to be such a reasonable man.

“I have business with the Imaden School of Higher Learning now, Your Grace, but if there is any issue that you would like to discuss with me while I am here, I will return when I’m done. I want you to know that you have a Governor who you can rely on now, a Governor who listens.”

He’d go to the Imaden School and ask them personally if they could provide any additional support rather than offending the Thane when they had just begun to get along by implying that three apprentices wouldn’t make enough of a difference in the war.

[Fish Stick]

The thane grinned at the man's question of if they were sisters. "They just so happen to be sisters, and very strong ones as well, they may be apprentices, but they are well adapted to each of their individual crafts, and work extremely well as a team. I've seen them in duels with other apprentices, and they put the other apprentices to shame, so don't doubt their strengths," he said.

When Anvael asked if there was anything else he could help him with, the thane smiled, and said, "Not at the moment, if you need anything else, feel free to stop by, and let us know..." After he had finished, he allowed the three young women to leave with Anvael...

[Anvael Andares]

„Come with me, my ladies.“ The Thane’s description of their duels had comforted the Esh’lahier somewhat, and he wasn’t quite as pessimistic anymore. Maybe they’d be of some use in the coming war after all, maybe they’d have something valuable to contribute. Three mages that were used to working together should not be underestimated. “We will leave for Taralon in a few candlemarks.”

He left the Thane’s estate after he had said his farewell and walked towards the carriage and his guards that were still waiting. He opened the door of his carriage for them as if he were a servant and they noble ladies and gestured for them to sit opposite of him.

“To the Imaden”, he gave the driver a command. “There is one more place I have to go in this city.”