Welcome to Gaia! ::

Company:: Cyn, Nero and Sharla
Outfit:: Practice gear
Feeling:: Friendly
Condition:: Healthy
Location:: Training
Currency:: 5000¢ EC
Items:: Wooden Sword
OOC:: I'm so mad at myself. I had something way better than this written out but accidentally closed my web browser >.>

Roland chuckle at Cyn's true words. Sure Roland was cocky but victories made him so. He was always doing things confidently and with good reason. He usually had a plan when going into things and knew if things got tough he'd have the muscle to get himself out the situation. Besides, it's not like any woman has ever complained about the size of his cockiness before. "I like the way you operate Cyn. I know you'll be doing us damn well in the future...but for what it's worth, I am sorry to hear about yours and your child's loss." War profits very few and hurts many. The sins of his victory might have cause the demise of Nero's mother which was another guilt to eat at him in the dead of night.

From his apologetic stare to the rolling of his eyes Roland showed true emotion as he focused from Cyn to Sharla. "Don't get the boy to do your dirty deeds Sharla." He tries to say in a pout but is too busy trying to hide the smile he has underneath. "Shall we be heading off now Sharla? You know it will be quite a ways from here to Zalto."

Ah, that was sad. The joke didn't have anything to build up to if the kid didn't know what a seagull was. It was funnier if the kid knew that much. Though, inevitably, the second half was decently funny if one only knew what a bagel was. Either way, the lad was recalled by his parent and that was the end of the conversation. The lady steadily and carefully wrapped up the random article she was knitting and dropped it into her bag before she stood up.

"No trouble at all." She assured, though the smile on her face suggested that her mischief hadn't even been scratched. "You shouldn't worry about if I rub off on him. If he gets to my age in the first place he'll be lucky. If he can be half as funny as I am, then he'll be a happy man. Might die laughing, who knows?"

She adjusted her hold on the little bag and smiled with all the polite joy any old lady might possess. It was easy to ponder the wisdom behind the smile but so very difficult to comprehend the depth of chaos hidden behind that pleasant facade.

"You're welcome, young sir. Be sure to ask your dad what a seagull is. Next time you see me, I'll tell you the other half of the riddle."

Now, all that was left was to wait on Prince Roland. Nice kid, but quite a talker.

"Let's roll." The elder woman encouraged, thus proving that she was ready to move out and also that she seemed to have some energy despite how she seemed to take an excessive amount of time climbing into the carriage. At a point, she did take some assistance and would get settled into a seat.

Then they would be on the way to the castle of Zalto. Adventures!! Travel! Exotic locales!

Dinner.

The Phoenix would land in front of the castle and Hysteria would dismount, her ride transforming back into man and Hysteria said something that would sound like thank you in the Bellrisian tongue. She would walk forward as the man walked a different direction and Hysteria looked up at the dark castle, at first glance one might have mistaken it for bricks but the structure was to smooth except for the occasional balcony high up, but it was actually mud. Thick and hardened like baked bricks where, legend was that it was once a mound of mud hardened by Phoenix fire and carved out, it may not be grand like other castles like the one in Lionis or what was once in Ethe, but it would sure has hell be difficult for any formless assassin to climb it and the spires atop where open and it could be seen the archers that stood atop as sentries. "This is our first stop, Castle Bellris" she said.

Hysteria nodded her head "Yes. The castle was made this way after the Assassination of our first queens mother, and the woman that founded Bellris, Bellris herself" she said "Thick enough that busting though it would take time and smooth enough that climbing the castle is a near impossible, while also being high enough to shoot down any winged assailants with one ballista at the top of each tower on a rotating base that can fire accurately from 750 yards away, however its been recorded a little over 75 years ago that the two royal sons of Queen Solandra, Lycianthus born to her husband and Eone born to her lover where something of sharp shooters and could aim accurately and take down an armored dragon from two miles away" she said, talking as if she had seen it personally "Of course that is out of the ordinary and we haven't seen such skill since then" she said as she would walk toward the doors of the castle "Come" she said

Hysteria would lead him toward the castle and the doors would open "In Bellris men and woman have been very close to equal since Bellris herself, however it is law that women will always inherit first despite age or removal from the main branch of any line as it was observed that for every three children born a majority are always female, however despite this it was always common for a queen to take a lover to ensure a female in the main line was able to inherit... I guess that's about the same as your Kings taking mistresses" she said as she stopped at a large room where a throne stood, but now in front of it was a large table "The council regularly meets here every other week unless something of major importance comes up before hand. On weekends the castle doubles as a school and since its opened we've had a rise in literacy rates and increased stability.... do you have any specific questions about Bellris?" she asked him.

"Seven make up the council, none with any particular focus but they are aloud to study and request any focus they like. We have one that is focused on military affairs and training" she said to him as she turned around. "Having an odd number of officials gives us less trouble with ties" she said to him Four of the council men and women are from noble families, two are elected by the common class, and the military advising position is always filled by the head of the army with no thought on class." she said to him.

"Keeping the council in check is a constant work in progress, however since they're aloud to run whatever projects they like out of their own pockets so long as it doesn't disturb the peace it has lead to a stable order." she said "The councilmembers convene once every other week for up to three days, and once a year for one week. Though no one has to show up, the fact that everything one has worked for can be undone by a majority vote is a great motivator" she said "Of course councilmembers are also held to the same law that binds commoners and former nobility as well." she said "And actually no, we haven't had many disagreements. The only major issue we've had was weather or not we should continue allowing former nobility to open schools and allowing foreigners, which has been resolved with, yes so long as we have a record of these open schools and yes so long as they can either make the trip back to their own countries or the school provides lodging."

hmmm" Hysteria said calmly before she looked up for a minute as she thought of what to tell him "Every three months we talk about weather to raise or lower taxes, with the additions of the school run by former nobility someone will be elected to go around seeing what those attending theses schools are being taught, It is up to the council weather or not we go to war unless we are invaded then power falls back to the head of the council to make preemptive decisions along side the head of the army in order to defend Bellris." she paused for a second before continuing We enact ordinances, sets policies, and address the nation a minimum of once a year. During the summer we talk about what present of the harvest should be preserved for winter, We speak about the upkeep of public buildings and systems, when and were to adjust the budget as estimated by the previous years taxes... and of course addresses problems, concerns and information requests both from smaller city and village councils... this is just the few things that I can name off the top of my head and its not including the individual projects that others make"

Hysteria said as she walked over to one of the windows in order to look out at the city below as even on the first floor they were far above the city below, its tall grain silo's towering above the residential and business buildings. Since the large tower like silos were stygian in color it was impossible to tell how full they actually were, but with the skyline of the Bellrisian city dotted with them, even with them less then half full the people of Bellris didn't have any problem feeding themselves "Eventually the entire council will be chosen by the people, however transitioning from a monarchy to a republic will still take many years to come. As since before two years ago my countries people had a very low literacy or understanding of the common tongue, with the change of the castle into a school the literacy rate has gone up and understanding of the common tongue has grown, they can learn how to become politicians and an electoral process will be implemented once the literacy rate is raised above the halfway point" she looked back over at Xerxies "Having the nobility on the council placates those with ancient claim to the land they have passed down from daughter to daughter for centuries, as part of the royal family of Bellris and you as a Lord of Phobos, we should both know how stubborn peerage can be" she said as she looked out the window again "Taking power away from those that have scaled the ramparts of power is not something that will ensure peace, however it does not particularly bother me. I know my enemies, both past and present. All those that would attempt to break the peace Bellris has... are reminded of the very people that attempted before them and fell only to break their skulls upon the stone below... and that power lives and dies by the happiness of the people, very few would go against a family that both bleeds the blood of their goddess and has no need to use the power that the gods give them." Hysteria said as she continued to look at the city below "And by the time any enemies gain the courage to wield a kitchen knife, this Republic will be cemented in the strongest of materials and that knife will not be able to cut hair"