The mood was grave in the council room. The air was cold in spite of the many hot stones in the room and the roaring fire. Tsarina Anayanka, the First of the Arman Protectorate, looked over the many letters written to her by suitors. Most of them she had already fed to the flames as uninteresting.
Dressed in a white mink coat, her sister, and heir, Blanka spoke first. “Ana, you must choose one of them. I looked over the applications myself and think these men could all serve the Protectorate.”
Anayanka smiled at the notion of serving the Protectorate. She would have to select the man who would continue the dynasty.
The Prelate of Mureath, Sergei Andranov, added. “Your Majesty must understand that rulership brings responsibilities one cannot avoid. The Sanguine Lord, in his infinite wisdom, has granted you that mantle to bear because he knows you can do it. He would not have done it otherwise.”
Again, Anayanka smiled but remained quiet. Taking the letters once more, she went through them.
“Prince Vladimir is a boor with the social grace of a wooly mammoth. Prince Dimitri is man of war; he would make a great general. Sheik Abdel Mussul is more interested in the men of his entourage than in siring children or rulership. Prince Bial already committed regicide on his sister, I don’t think he’d have a second thought about doing it again,” she said dismissing all the suitors.
“Milady, you MUST choose. You and your people need a tsarevich to ensure the stability of your throne,” the Prelate said before a long silence descended upon the assembled generals and advisors.
General Wulf Gronnovitch, lord of the Protectorate forces in Sametia, spoke next. “My Queen, if you are unable to decide perhaps having some unaffiliated advisors serve as your eyes and ears to find out which one would be the best for you…”
Interrupting, Blanka said. “Oh! Yes! I’ll handle everything dearest sister! I’ll find you the best man possible! Leave everything to me! You just find yourself a nice dress and dress up your personal guard! It will be wonderful!” Without waiting for an answer, the Raina, and heir-to-the-throne, ran out, holding the front of her dress.
The whole assembly remained silent, as the Tsarina’s councilors exchanged glances and sharing a common disbelief in Blanka’s abilities.
The Tsarina felt the unease and doubt of her trusted advisors. She almost shared those with them, but caught herself and dismissed them with a wave of her hand. Alone again, she went to a window to watch the setting sun. Under her breath, she whispered to herself, holding back a tear.
“My love, how can we be together?”
TLDR : This year’s theme is “Legacy of Lies”. The official start of the season will be at Tacticon once more. We will premiere with two new adventures “In sickness and in health,” “Silver lining” and a multi-table storyline interactive adventure called “Never again, my Love”. Any run of these adventures during the month of September will be counted for campaign results.
The above narrative is a direct tie-in with "Never again, my Love"
Sounds like a lot of interesting craziness going on.
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