Visitation of the Monarch of Khijovia

Zyxey

(this whole rp is no longer canon)

This will be the first time a Khijovian monarch has been in Muremysct peacefully in decades, and the entire city has been preparing for this day. It's a truly monumentous occasion and you can almost feel the air of suspense and angst about you. More people are inside their homes today than usual, just in case something were to go wrong. Usually you'd find a couple dozen Kyleth chatting away, working on projects and standing around the colorful walls, but today that number was at least halved. Grand Warden Giyeŋ Kuyi has assured the people that the visit will be peaceful and is gathering the wardens for a council meeting at Council Hall as we speak. Warden Varkad Sceŋoŋ of Klasctuvijev walks down a white road toward the titanic gate spanning several meters of the huge city walls, preparing himself to meet Arcadion II, his distant cousin. Varkad rules over one of the two cantons in Kyldigard with a significant Khijovian-speaking population, the other being Gliturijev, whose warden, Yium Carev, is too elderly to assist the Khijovian royal. Hence why Varkad was picked for the job. After a long distance of walking, there was a knock on the door and the city fell silent. Varkad straightened his robe, nodding to the guards to open it.

Balco

At the sound of the knock, the entire city was pervaded by a tacit trepidation and the very air was soon charged with excited apprehension. The visceral silence was broken by Varkad's imperative voice, who ordered the guards to open the doors wide and gave the signal to the orchestra to begin playing Khijovia's royal anthem. Immediately a majestic music reverberated high-sounding but, once the entrance was fully opened, instead of the royal caravan of the Ascended sovereigns, there was unexpectedly a single unknown individual who appeared to be a humble wayfarer. The orchestra, more confused than ever, stopped abruptly in a awkward and clumsy way, and Varkad, extremely bewildered, scratched his forehead.

Varkad: "What the... How can this be..? Who on earth is... this?!"

He said incredulously as he slowly turned to the also perplexed guards.

Breaking the embarrassing silence caused by the comically equivocal scene was the sudden and distant sound of a powerful nautical horn, after which everyone looked at the sky in the direction of the source of the noise.

Above Muremysct the sky was unusually clear blue, and slowly a distant fleet of majestic figures would begin to materialise, getting closer and closer to the city and becoming more and more recognisable given its iconic semblance. Like a flock of lavishly refined and solemn birds, the Khijovian aethermotives aroused charm among the spectator population, who witnessed the majestic airships soaring so finely in the direction of the capital city.

Zyxey

~~Varkad scoffed as the flying ships began to land in the middle of the white road. A cry rang out as a nearby demej scuttled away in fear. It looked like flat, wooden meteors were crashing to earth. One of the ships was gold, clearly the royals' vessel.

Varkad: It's always the Khijovians messing up the road, isn't it, Memaj?

He turned towards one of the guards as another ushered in the wandering human merchant.

Guard Memaj: Indeed, it's just like way back in the elden days, but now instead of fighting over the border cantons, it's for fighting over petty pride, hah.

The ships landed in the middle of the road, nearly blocking the way back and covering the white street in soot. A couple kyler shouted out against the wanton disobedience of street law but Varkad was more focused on presenting himself properly for the royal monarch. He made sure his back fins were straight and tightened his robe, preparing what he was to say.

Out of the aethermotives stepped some royal guards dressed in maroon and yellow.

Guard: Behold all ye who are here to witness! I present to you, the most revered human in the Clastoclite kingdoms, his highness and her highness, the Ascended Sovereigns Arcadion and Carevia of the Ascended Kingdom of Khijovia!

Trumpetfare played as the monarchs trotted out of their golden ship and stood directly in front of Varkad.

Arcadion: shaking his hand Pleased to meet you.

Varkad: shaking his hand Pleased as well, your highness and you too, your highness. shaking her hand So how about we take a walk to the Council Hall? The meeting will be starting soon and I know sitting in on it is the main reason you visited. I promise you, we will tour the city later.~~

Balco

At Varkad's words, the Ascended King smiled warmly, giving him a winking glance, then said with blatant solemnity:

Arcadion: "Of course, cousin."

The two were in fact first cousins, consanguinity product of the complex and intricate history of the lineage of the House of Zenon. Their mothers were uterine sisters, i.e. conceived by the same mother but by different fathers; this close kinship therefore turned out to be very bizarre in that the two belonged to two completely distinct species and were natives of two different nations. Varkad's mother, Astridia, fled Khijovia and moved to Kyldigard to marry a Kyler, renouncing her dynastic affiliation: thus, formally, she was no longer a Zenonian and had lost the royal blood.

Varkad looked at his cousin with an inquisitive eye, then he grinned softly:

Varkad: "What is all this monstrosity on your face? You look like a shaggy bear."

Arcadion: "Varkadja¹, it's called a beard."

The Khijovian laughed softly as Varkad rolled his eyes.

Varkad: "When was the last time I saw you, huh? Back then your face was smooth and beardless, while now you're all so pilous; look at that hair..!"

Arcadion: "Eh, you're just jealous… Remember that time I took you around town and everyone thought you were a fire victim because of that bald head? Ha-ha!"

The Ascended Queen Carevia listened to their conversation with amusement, then she approached the Grand Duchess Artemidia of Axiomia:

Carevia: "Do you see those two? Incredible! We are at a formal ceremony and they start talking colloquially."

Artemidia: "Well, I don't blame them. Didn't you say they were very close? Besides, they haven't seen each other for who knows how many years."

Carevia: "Hm, you're right, I suppose."

The two laughed together softly, amused by the two cousins who, despite their solemn appearances and the formal context, behaved like childish bosom friends.

¹ Khijovian diminutive form of the name Varkad to show affection and friendship.

Zyxey

~~After about half an hour of talking, a small crowd had gathered around the Warden and his foreign monarch cousin. Although most citizens of Muremysct had heard of humans, not many humans settled this far east and therefore this was the first time many had seen them.

Suddenly, a voice called for Warden Varkad by his full name somewhere in the crowd, grabbing his attention away from his guests for a brief moment.

Varkad: Sorry, Arcadja, I must figure out who asked for me. It could be important. Varkad turned to the mass of people, speaking up loudly in Kyleruth: Did somebody call my name?

A short Cem¹ woman approached as the crowd parted, dressed in the violet and gold messenger's robes and holding a small scroll. She smiled and nodded to Arcadion and began to speak in fluent Khijovian, to the surprise of everyone.

Messenger Thekju: (in Khijovian, to Arcadion) It's wonderful having you here, your highness! (to Varkad) And you, good sir, as well.

Thekju began to leave but Arcadion discreetly tapped on the messenger's shoulder and knelt down to speak to her.

Arcadion: Your Khijovian is incredible, where did you learn it?

Varkad interrupts.
Varkad: Y-yes, how did you learn the language? I've never heard of a Cem learning the tongue before. It's very impressive.

The young messenger smiled and responded happily.
Thekyu: My pod is an adoptive one, from Gliturijev. My parents took me in when I was five. I was hired as Warden Yium Carev's messenger only last year! Thank you for speaking to me your highness! I must go now, the Council is meeting soon, hence the... Thekyu motioned toward the letter. Goodbye!

Arcadion laughed lightly as the young woman slipped away through the crowd. Varkad opened and read the letter. It was a late notice, a bad sign, but probably forgiveable due to....the obvious.

Varkad: (to Arcadion) We must get going, this letter is a late notice and you do not want to know what kind of a pain a missed Council meeting is for your dear cousin, so let's hurry up!

Varkad forced the crowd to disperse and the two began to trek up the white road to the Council Hall. After a fairly long walk, the Khijovian royals and the Kyldigardian warden made it up to the glorious, antique beams of the Hall's entrance and walked right through.

¹Cem (pronounced kjɛm) are a race of Kyleth mostly native to northwestern Kyldigard, especially prominent in the Cantons of Gijev and Ŋamrelev. Cem tend to have blue or blue-silver skin tones and a very industrious attitude.~~

Balco

Arcadion was born on December 27, 1575 in the small and isolated Chondian village of Adonia, a town bordering the Kyldigardian canton of Glitoria. The royal Zenonian dynasty had been exiled out of the country by the federalist republicans, however they had miraculously managed to stay in Khijovia thanks to the Mortans, the most important aristocratic family of Chondia, who had helped them hide from the authorities by providing them with food and lodging in the unsuspecting Adonia.

During the same period of Arcadion's birth, his aunt Astridia, uterine sister of his mother Calypsia, fled Khijovia following a family quarrel and married a Kyleth in the Kylidigardian canton of Clastovia. Due to a series of complications, the unconventional couple was forced to travel to Adonia for the birth of their hybrid son Varkad. Eventually, the two sisters reconciled, and Astridia entrusted her son to the Zenonian family while she returned to Clastovia with her husband for political matters; in this way, Calypsia raised both Arcadion and Varkad for a time as if they were two blood brothers. The cousins attended the same primary and lower secondary schools, while for higher education they had to go to different locations. It was then unanimously decided in the family that Varkad would remain in Khijovia to complete all his university studies given the better formative and professional courses provided there. In all these years, Arcadion and Varkad established a very close and fraternal relationship.

Upon graduating from Chondia University, however, Varkad grudgingly left Khijovia to return to his father's homeland and pursue a political career there. Meanwhile, Arcadion would begin to found an anti-federalist political movement and to plan the coup d'état to bring the Zenonians back to power, inspiring many with his pro-monarchist ideology and soon becoming an eminence grise in the country. Thus the two cousins were busy with their own personal projects and couldn't hear from each other for whole years, living completely different lives.

In July 1607, with the successful foundation of the Ascended Kingdom of Khijovia, the now Arcadion II rekindled relations with Varkad and the two cousins managed to arrange a state visit in the spring of the following year ahead of the Wardens' council meeting in the Kyldigardian capital.

While they walked through the colonnaded entrance, Arcadion carefully observed the solemn building and rubbed his bearded chin, struck by the Kyldigardian architecture.

Arcadion: "Not bad, Varkadja. Impressive, most impressive..! Who was the architect?"

Zyxey

~_The Ascended Sovereign and his Warden cousin strolled through the magnificent expanse of the Council Hall, Arcadion absolutely in awe of the massive structure. Within its massive outer Civil Chamber were multiple floors of elegant storefronts, restaurants, and even areas of manmade gardens, maintained by the employees of the businesses and of the Grand Warden. In the distance Varkad saw a small child, at most two or three years old, definitely before their Kajert marking, as shown by the thicker winter clothing.

Suddenly Varkad was snapped out of his dazed viewing of the massive chamber by a question from Arcadion:

Arcadion: "Not bad, Varkadja. Impressive, most impressive..! Who was the architect?"

Varkad: "Well that's...a bit of a complicated question to answer. It took a very long time to build, almost five hundred years actually. But in the beginning, it was envisioned only as a governmental building, never also as a commercial building. That would have been seen as almost sacrelige by its designer, Cayim Yeram. But eventually we realized that the original design wasted a lot of space, so somewhere along the line, a big building committee helped adjust the design before it was finished and set the foundations for what we know today. So you could say that it was Cayim Yeram who designed it, but honestly that only applies to the exterior, and for the interior it wasn't really designed by one person, more of a community effort, and occasionally as businesses move in and out of the commercial areas and different plants get planted in the gardens, the interior changes. Long story short, we aren't exactly sure who we should credit the design to, with the exception of the base exterior structure being clearly designed by Yeram. We actually have a Yeram descendant on the Council as well, Yezcaw Yeram of Central Muremysct. I'm sure we'll see her too since we're literally in her governed canton-"

A random vender interrupts the two's journey, offering a drink on a platter.

Vendor: "Hello, your majesty, and hello great Warden, sir. Would either of you like a drink? It's today's cherry liquor ° brew. I know you love them Sir Varkad and I implore your majesty to try one as well."

Varkad smiles and takes a big gulp of the alcoholic refreshment, smiling and nodding to the vendor.

Varkad turns toward his cousin Arcadion.

Varkad: "Would you like to try one, Arcadja? It's our nation's speciality."

° : (The cherry liquor beverage is similar to irl cherry vodka.)~~