JudgeTrudy

Theodore Elwood, Grand Speaker of the Garmont Assembly of the Petran Commonwealth, looks upon the missive and guffaws. "Why must the writing be so large? Are the Schwanstein's girls so bad - or does she think our Tar or Tari to be near blind themselves? How very queer..." he mumbles to one of his assistants as he walks past. "Poor Siegfried. To face such shame publicly, and now to have his own daughter make it worse. Maybe he'll find some respite elsewhere in the next few months, hm?" Meanwhile, Lukas von Theonus grins and kicks his little leggies in his bed as he listens to the missive being read to him by a servant. "Zhat one has been ein rotten little wretch for ein while. If das had been up to mich, zhe original missive by Archduke Alberic vould have mentioned her rather bloodthirsty nature, too. She should be grateful she 'only' got her family ousted for being criminally manipulative." he says as he rolls onto his back and smiles up at the ceiling. "Ich do nicht get to relish in zhis kind of feeling very often, und by Gott, Ich forgot how gutte it is to have others finally see the perniciousness of others zhat du had felt privately!"

From within his office, the Grand Speaker of the Garmont Assembly is brought the missive by one of his assistants. Upon reading it, the ancient man frowns and lets out a small, tired sigh. "Guess I'll have to find a new Deputy Speaker, then. Let's add that to our list of tasks." he says to the assistant before he gets back to writing an already lengthy document. "May the family find success and happiness elsewhere." Theodore murmurs to himself, as if maybe he ought to write that down, too.

Individually, two different Petran men find great delight in the advertised artworks, and seriously consider such commissions.

A Half-Dwed laughs maniacally at the missive. "Focken 'ell! Did t'ese lads get hit on dah head or sometin' durin' dah war?!" Folkvar asks to the poor, poor trader who'd brought the news to him. "For mah own health, Ah realleh should ask yeh ta stop bringin' me t'ese, but t'ey do work for a good laugh!" he says, tossing the paper back to the quiet man. Though deeper in his heart, Folkvar worried for his kin. For all he held a strong disapproval of the last leaders of the Fourth Grand Kingdom, it did hurt his soul to see such indisputable mania drive those fellow Dwed forward. Back in his hovel, Folkvar would murmur quiet prayers for the folly of these 'remnants' of the Grand Kingdom, who simultaneously continued to claim leadership over all Dwed, and cast out all aspects of the very Kingdom that gave them any such authority. "May yeh bring wisdom back to their minds, love to their hearts, 'n sense back to their words."

Folkvar would look upon the missive and spit upon it. "Tha last great Grand Kang of Urguan, treated loike a common brigand! By a so-called "victor" o' dah destruction o' Hefrumm?! PAH! May tis ash-hearted fool take a nice long walk inta Imperial territoreh!"

2073 Garmont Transcripts Issued and averred by The Grand Speaker, Theodore Elwood Atstanta de Regne Petrère 218 The following is the official transcript of the Garmont Assembly hosted in the month of Sun’s Smile, 2073 as required under Commonwealth law. Included within is a list of present Seatholders, debate transcripts, and voting records for each topic. ROLL CALL PRESENT The Duchy of Vohenheim Representative Diana Isfiria Vespira The Margravate of Abhmoine Representative Finnean Reinhold, then Alistair Armand Reinhold The Viscounty of Joyeuse Representative Elisabetta Malatesta The Barony of Valkenfeldt Representative Silvya Véronica This Seatholder is under review. Theoretically, it is Cassian Valkonen The Barony of Schwanau Representative Siegfried Aurelian von Schwanstein This Seatholder is Aurelian von Schwanstein The Lord-Mayor of Riviènse Representative Cesar Alejandro Peter Komnenos This is currently Vacant. First People’s Seat of the Petra Representative Bon’Ox The Ordre du Petrine Laurel Representative Therin Thelonius Adil Temesch of the Petra ABSENT The Barony of Rosalervo Representative Antonio Vicenzo Carnelle The District of Chambery Representative Cinnamon’Ox o’Nico Second People’s Seat of the Petra Representative Jan Otto Kortrevich Summary This session of the Garont Assembly saw one bill of law proposed with some simple yet passionate debate and a near-unanimous vote to pass. It also saw the introduction of an audit to Lord-Mayor Cesar Alejandro Peter Komnenos. A lengthy and fierce debate transpired between most members of the Assembly. And while a vote had begun, it was never concluded as a final result was decided by the Lord-Mayor himself. On the Status of Household Levies & Uniforms of the Levy Proposed by: Archduke Joseph I of the Petra TRANSCRIPT TRANSCRIPT CONCLUDES VOTES OF THE ASSEMBLY The Duchy of Vohenheim Representative Diana Isfiria Vespira IN FAVOR The Margravate of Abhmoine Representative Finnean Reinhold IN FAVOR The Viscounty of Joyeuse Representative Elisabetta Malatesta AGAINST The Barony of Valkenfeldt Representative Silvya Véronica IN FAVOR The Barony of Schwanau Representative Siegfried Aurelian von Schwanstein IN FAVOR The Lord-Mayor of Riviènse Representative Cesar Alejandro Peter Komnenos IN FAVOR First People’s Seat of the Petra Representative Bon’Ox IN FAVOR The Ordre du Petrine Laurel Representative Therin Thelonius Adil Temesch of the Petra IN FAVOR CONCLUSION With only some passionate debate between two members and a near-consensus having been reached, the bill was quickly passed with a vote of 7 - 1 in favor, and was promptly passed back to the Crown for final approval. Audit of Lord-Mayor Komnenos Proposed by: First People's Representative Bon’Ox and Princess Mattea Asadha of the Petra TRANSCRIPT CONCLUSION The debate over this audit was long, passionate, and fierce. Notable arguments came from one author of the bill, Princess Mattea Asadha of the Petra, Lord-Mayor Cesar Komnenos, and the Representatives of Abhmoine (both representatives) and Schwanau. The Grand Speaker, considering the final words of Representative Alistair Reinhold’s argument, opted to move the bill to a vote: Members could vote to encourage the Lord-Mayor to move forward with his willing resignation, or they could vote to give him a second chance. With multiple votes to abstain, the final vote came down to the Lord-Mayor himself, who was capable of forcing a tie of the vote and thus, necessitating the bill to be tabled until the next meeting of the Garmont Assembly, or have the Archduke or Archduchess intervene themselves. However, Lord-Mayor Cesar Komnenos opted to resign his position as Lord-Mayor. S I G N E D, HIS EXCELLENCY, Theodore Elwood, Grand Speaker of the Petra

Theodore Elwood claps his hands excitedly as the newspaper is brought to him. "Ohh, this is LOVELY!" he says to his grand-nephew as he glosses over each section. "And they covered the Garmont Assembly! Look! Splendid. TERRIFIC! Maybe next time I'll be around for an interview myself, eh? Imagine that, my name in a newspaper!" Meanwhile, Lukas von Theonus also thoroughly enjoys the fresh paper over a cup of hot tea!

a spreadsheet? with concise information? USED BY FELLOW HATERS OF ROMANCE RP?????? okay.....okay, sure, yeah. im listening. youve gotten my attention at the very least

Mya'sae hauls ass from her trip to the East so she can make it in time for her mandatory training.

Lukas nearly spits out his cup of tea as he reads a copy of the missive. "Norigami?!" he blurts out to himself. "Oh mein GOTT. . . .OH MEIN GOTT!!" Later, the distressed squire sends a concerned letter to a friend.

An Idunian squire glances to the darkened mace at his side as news of the coming Crusade reaches him from a town crier. These havens of evil, the Black Church and Black Sepulchre, finally to be felled. An image flashes to Lukas' mind, of an eerie black fortress surrounded by choking ash. He pats a hand at his side, to the ferrum mace, as he looks from the town square in Riviense down toward the Temple of St. Juliel. Under his breath, Lukas mutters only a few words. "Zhe High Priest vill have every drop of mein own blood, sweat, und tears to face zhese foes. May Gott bless all of us in zhis righteous cause..." Meanwhile, on the other end of the continent, a young Elf woman hears the gossip of this war as she toils to a local garden. Mya'sae smiles at the news, which felt strange in the aftermath. 'So many innocents will surely die...but still, it is nice to see the Church of Man take charge against the Fallen One's minions. I may not join the battles, but I hope to bring the warriors aid where I may - whether Cauróst joins or not.'

The news came early in the morning to Lukas von Theonus. He had been asleep in bed when one of his closer servants knocked upon his door, though, Lukas had already started to stir from the bustling around the entirety of the family home. Barely alert, Lukas listened to the servant speak as he rubbed at his eyes, only catching every second or third word. But then came four that he could never have missed, and which signaled a change across all of Azuras: "Emperor Hadrian has died." It was odd, then, as Lukas closed his bedroom after dismissing the serf. He'd always known the Emperor to be a man of poor health. Everyone had whispered about it for decades, since the man was simply the heir to Tiberius. But after so long, Lukas thought, he'd grown used to Hadrian's presence. That growing shadow on the ground, the stillness of the air, the silence of birdsong. He'd felt it everywhere, from each corner of the world. So, too, had Lukas seen the Emperor's impatience and cruelty first-hand. And so had he seen a willingness for some morsels of mercy in the name of stability. Sat in his bunk, hands rubbing at his eyes, Lukas pondered how he truly felt about this death. "Ich called him Hadrian zhe Mad for so long...Hadrian zhe Cruel....zhe Unworthy....yet Ich fought in his battles....never offered any true help to zhe victims of vhat so many called cruelties und crimes." The words came as whispers to himself as he slumped back into bed and stared at the ceiling. For an hour, Lukas thought about his strange emotional response to Hadrian's demise, but also the pit in his own stomach. "Ich know Ich should not be happy about any man's death," he mumbled again, "but...Ich cannot help it." A hand rose from his chest and reached up for the ceiling, as if reaching up to the Seven Skies themselves. "May God forgive mich....und may He forever guide Hadrian's own soul to some purity." It was not said with some ill intention - he did not wish eternal damnation on the Emperor, he thought. But he did expect God's justice to be done. Some time later, Lukas got out of bed, got dressed, and made his way to the center of Petra. Like any day, he had his own errands. There was still some uncertainty in his heart. How must one truly react to the loss of such a powerful figure? Were there to be celebrations on the streets? An enforced state of mourning? Soon, he'd find out. Though as he walked the cobbled streets, Lukas did find himself in a rather brisk gait, and whistling a gleeful little tune as he walked through the empty square, all while trying to ignore that tension in his own gut. . . . . . Meanwhile, in a little cottage further into the country, an extremely old man opened a bottle of sparkling wine and danced with his extended family in celebration. "Two emperors down!" decreed Theodore Elwood as he raised his glass for a toast. "Hopefully just one more to go! May this one lack his father's inhumanity!"

A Verdant Knight in training hears of this and furrows his brows. "Ich vonder vhat Safiyaa vill say about zhis..." he mumbles to himself as he gets to his business. "Ist zhis ein matter for zhe Order, or does it fall into something....beyond, now?"

Professor Lukas von Theonus readies himself for the grand opening by having his best outfit freshly cleaned. "Finally, after so many years, Ich get to live ein childhood dream!" he says to an uncaring servant. "Get mich some parchment! Ich vould make sure ein friend knows she ist invited!" he says before beginning a letter to Genevive.

Within a modest home on the outskirts of the Commonwealth, an ancient human rolls his eyes at word of the Emperor's boasting. "It may be official today, but we've lived knowing this would happen for decades. Each domino fell neatly in line. There was no stopping it on the way, anyone with eyes could see that." Theodore says to his grand-nephew rather...plainly, surprisingly. "Maybe if Rigoberto was worthy of the Seven Skies, he smiles down at this Empire - for he is one to blame for its earliest rising back in Aevos." Now that, that was said with some detestation. "Now comes the real trouble." he begins again, turning back to his stack of papers. "There are no enemies on the outside left to fight, no matter how badly those bandits of Salvo want to think they are. If people think that the Imperial line will end its need for violence and conquest here, they are as foolish now as they have been the past century. Soon, one of the vassal realms shall be forced to burn. For if they cannot have the blood of foreign enemies, they shall set ablaze the innocents of this Empire for the sake of claiming some fame beyond Tiberius and Hadrian. And there's damn near nothing we can do to stop it anymore." The Grand Speaker's quill pauses at that sentiment, and the old man stares down at his transcripts for a long moment. "I pity the youths of tomorrow. For they shall not know a world of greater freedoms and heightened cultures. They shall know only the dragon's wrath. What a shame for them all." Meanwhile, a much younger Lukas von Theonus speaks aimlessly at his nearby kin as the news spreads through the Theonus manor. "Zhe var is over, zhe Emperor has gotten vhat he wanted. From what Ich heard of both him und zhe Tar some months ago, neither men seem to think zhey vill live much longer, or at least not rule. Let us hope zheir sons hold onto zhe peace won by zheir fathers." In Caurost, a young Elf woman bows her head to the statue of the Dragon Erudite in Caras Sol. A murmured prayer is offered - to the High Prince, to the Emperor, and to her ancestors. "May the coming years be kind to the peoples of Azuras. May the Children of Malin continue to find prosperity under Horen's own Empire. May my leaders' hearts be pure, their words honorable, and their actions dignified. For the Age of Man comes now, the first time in my life. Let those older than I guide me through this era, for they have lived through such before, and their wisdom, cunning, and strength has brought them this far." With a silent send-off, Mya'sae shuffles off back to her dwelling, to continue her practices of the simple trades so that she may prove her worth in the City of Solitude once and for all.

Lukas von Theonus beams at the missive, though quickly scrunches his face in thought. "Ich do nicht know zhat Ich vill be able to attend all of zhese on time, but, hopefully Ich can at least go to zhe Smithery Showcase! Maybe submit some of mein own vork, eh?" he asks a nearby servant. "Ich shall also send ein letter to Genevive, to see if she vould like to show up fashionably late to zhe ball vith mich!!" he says with a smirk.

From the hospital of Riviense, Lukas von Theonus celebrates the victory alongside other wounded soldiers. Having nearly fallen to a thrust lance during his climb over the walls, Lukas grips at his side as a rack of laughter sends pain coursing through his body. "I only wish I could have looked the Dwarf in the eye, he who hit me." he grunts as he looks to his bandaging. "I'd have liked to know the face of the one who nearly felled me, to have tried to learn his name. Instead, I'll forever be faced with a ghostly enemy, overtaken by a sea of Imperial knights and infantrymen just like all the others. Did my mace strike at him? Did my shield block any further thrusts of his weapon? I may never recall, may never know such truth. But I know this," he says, raising a cup of water at his bedside into the air, "we have all lived! We have all come home to our wives and husbands, our children, and our countrymen!!" With a round of cheers across the ward, Lukas smiles, and leans back in his bed. He may not have held any hatred toward the Dwarven people, but, that did not quell the pride he felt in his heart this day. If not for the Empire itself, then for his own brothers-in-arms, and himself. Meanwhile, in a secluded monastery in the middle of the woodlands, a half-Dwed later hears word of the Grand Kingdom's fall from one of the visiting traders. Folkvar shakes his head as he thanks the scrawny human for her shipment of salted beef. "The Grand King brought this upon himself, and his people followed. I hope that all who remain, who may have already lived beyond Urguan's borders, may one day recombine to keep our peoples and our ways preserved. Otherwise, perhaps the Dwed are best left to live in the lands beyond Azuras for a time...."

On receiving this missive in a far away place, a half-Dwed looks puzzled as he speaks to a reclusive friend. "Ah cannot say whout mah greater surprise is, dat tha Urguani folks are fleein', or dat Alaric Grimgold 'as somehow gotten back inta power!" The missive is rolled up and added to a small collection of things in Folkvar's little dwelling. "When tha folk o' Hefrumm tried ta flee all t'ose years ago, t'eir reputation was tarnished, t'eir village all but burned, and t'eir lives put on tha line under tis Grand King's own cruel laws. Now he'd see all of tha Grand Kingdom flee from a war he 'elped begin? The lack of honor...tha shame, it knows no bounds! Ah was roight not ta go back when Ah heard bout dat fledgling Dwed encampment some time back. Least now Ah can live 'n die knowin' Ah had tha better heart of a Dwed than half o' Urguan's own fockin' military!" The half-Dwed would spit out some frustration at the last of his bitter words before returning to his daily operations of foraging for the commune.

I've been where you've been, either with this server or other roleplaying communities, or even just parts of real life. This sounds to me like a perfectly good time to just, step away. Not quit, just, take some time y'know? Enjoy another hobby or something for a while. See if the spark for this community comes back to you sometime, maybe in a month, maybe in two years. In your issues, I am fearful that you may suffer from what so many suffer across all kinds of communities: An inability to enact change. With hundreds of members and tenured staff members, it can be so easy to feel like you're so far from control that it's just a doomed future. But the only real ways change can be made is if there is a consistent, large scale call for it. That's what we saw a while back with the admin stuff, and surely much more before now. If you don't think you have it in you to participate in discussions and debates for the change you want to see, then there's no harm in stepping back to accept that this may just not be for you - not right now, anyway.

Across 11 years, how often would you say you've decided to let a character go (be it through a PK or a permanent shelving)? Then, how often do you think a character can last while still remaining interesting to roleplay with and fulfilling for the player? What are some challenges you've faced playing a demon? If you got thrust into this world as your real self, where do you think you would want to live?

"Vhat?!" The question was loud and frightful, a near scream in the face of the poor servant who'd knocked upon Lukas' chambers to tell him of the news. There was no time for questioning, no pause for thought. Lukas turned to grab his simple things: a book, a mace, and some papers tied together in twine. His armor was donned hastily, buckles clacking together as he swore under his breath, his fingers shaking in fear. In the middle of the night, a greying thoroughbred fled from the city of Riviense. A million thoughts raced through Lukas' mind as he rode toward Kazan. He pictured Varrik the last time he'd seen the Prince-Emeritus, at his wedding to Dietrich so long ago, a handsome young man so madly in love. He thought of his nephew and niece, now without a father. He thought of the Colborn family, now without one of their sons. But most of all, as mud and leaf litter churned under his steed's hooves, did Lukas think of his brother. 'Don't do anything rash.' he thought to himself. "Please, GOTT, do not let him do something stupid in his misery!" he called out. The horse carried on. Lukas shed tears as the mixture of grief and panic overwhelmed him. Varrik....poor, Varrik. Gone too soon.

"If zhe Emperor himself can fall victim to zhe deception of zhese creatures, one vould have hoped he might show any mercy to his fellow Men." Lukas von Theonus says to his sister. "Surely zhey could just test zhe Anjou children, instead of slaughtering zhem on sight. Despicable." The word is spit out as he cuts into his breakfast a little more violently. @Itz_Cookie