04 ❀

[princessia]

Who: Elize Lutus and YOU maybe?
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: FS Starlight, at the parks!
When: February 14-20ish?

[VIDEO]

[ The broadcast opens up to show a young girl with fluffy blonde hair, only about eleven or twelve years of age. She's sitting down, out in the park. She has a notebook, a stash of pens, her mage staff, and her doll next to her. ]

...I'm Elize Lutus. Hello. I've been here for about ten months now? I think. If anyone needs help with anything, let me know. I'll do my best.

[ That's mainly directed towards many of the newcomers to the fleet. Then there's an awkward pause. That's not the reason why she's making a video broadcast in the first place. For someone as shy as Elize, she normally dislikes recording herself for the entire public to see. ]

Um... so, I've been learning a lot about other worlds. And Jove has been teaching me how to write in the common tongue! She taught me some Elvish words too. Like falon. That means friend.

[ The reason she decided to record herself is to show off what she has been learning, her achievements, like a proud child. She opens up her notebook, holding it open to the screen. It's lines of sentences written in the common tongue, recognizable to those who come from Thedas. (It looks a bit like this.) Some lines are written in practiced repetition. They're extremely basic sentences like "my name is...", "how are you?", simple greetings, etc.

Everything is written in sparkly, pink gel pen ink that she bought from the station. It's written neatly too, with no smudging. She made sure the ink dried! ]

When I get better, I'm hoping to write a letter entirely in common tongue.

[ She flips the notebook over to look at her own writing. Her shoulders slump in disappointment and her proud expression begins to falter, like there's a moment of disbelief that the letter she writes might not reach. She then looks back up, putting on a brave smile even though her cheeks are red with embarrassment. She'll get this letter delivered, somehow. ]

If... anyone wants to hang out or something, I'm at the park. Or, we can just chat over the communicator. That's fine too.

[ACTION]

[ And as she mentioned in the broadcast, Elize will be in the park. She's laying down on her stomach, being diligent and practicing writing down sentences repeatedly in her notebook. ]

Comments

[princessia]

[ A pause. That's a lot of information for Elize to process all at once. Give her a moment to try to understand, watering it all down into more simpler terms.

She repeats, slowly... ]

The Landsmeet, the gathering and leh-jus-slay-tiff [ She stumbles over "legislative." She's not even sure what that means, but she assumes this means a very important group of nobility. ] body of Fereldan nobility, can make the current ruler step down from the throne?

[bryces_pup]

[Sorry, Elize. Riona's not used to talking to kids and having to break down information for them. At Elize's confusion, she backs up and starts over.]

Le-gis-la-tive. Fancy term for something that has to do with making laws. The Landsmeet refers to both the actual body and the annual meeting. All the nobles meet in Denerim, the capital, once a year, unless an emergency meeting is called at some other point.

And they can, essentially. It's not as easy as saying "You have to vacate the throne" but if the nobles work together, they can make the monarch's life pretty difficult and all but make them step down.

[princessia]

Le-... le-gis-la-tive.

[ She repeats it again, much slower and correctly this time around. Even when information and terms don't get broken down for her, Elize soaks up information like a sponge. She could probably parrot back a lot of Riona's saying for later. Similarly, she does the same with Cole's explanations. ]

The nobles sound more powerful than the monarch.

[bryces_pup]

They can be, to an extent. Fereldan royalty does have to pander to them in some ways. It's something they have had to do since the time of Calenhad. Part of the reason why he succeeded in uniting Ferelden is because he allowed the regional leaders he bested to maintain control of their lands, so long as they swore fealty to him.

[Riona's a bit surprised at how much she remembers of her history. Her old tutor would be proud.]

If a king or queen is very popular and well-liked, the nobility usually let them be and do not interfere terribly much. They will not risk the people's upset if they can avoid it.

[princessia]

Wow...

[ It sounds that either Elize is amazed by the amount of information she's trying to take in or how much Riona knows. Probably a bit of both. ]

You sure know a lot about your kingdom, Riona.

[bryces_pup]

[Riona has to fight back a laugh at that.]

Thank you. I come from a noble family and was brought up expected to participate in the Fereldan court. Learning about it was necessary.

[princessia]

Oh! You're a noble...

[ That makes sense. Now she's imagining all sorts of fancy things like what Driselle has in the Sharil Manor. And her role in society, of course. ]

Do you live in a big manor?

[bryces_pup]

I did. My family lived in Castle Cousland, our ancestral home in Highever.

[She misses her childhood home, though after what happened, even if she could go back now, she probably wouldn't. Nothing would be the same and it would never feel like home again.]

[princessia]

Did you have to stay in the castle for most of your life? I have a friend who also lives in a really big manor! She wasn't able to travel a lot.

[bryces_pup]

I did not necessarily have to stay. Sometimes I would spend a few months in a friend's home in Amaranthine or with some of our distant family in Ostwick.

[princessia]

...Do you have a lot of family members, Riona?

[bryces_pup]

[An innocent question, but it's a very hard one for Riona to answer. Her head bows as she looks away, giving herself a moment to try and come up with an answer without having to go into the awful details.]

I used to. Unfortunately, I only have an older brother now. And my husband. The rest are gone.

[princessia]

...You're a fortunate person. You still have a family and memories.

[ Which is one of the many things that Elize desires the most. If she were the same child just after discovering the truth about her parents, their deaths, she might have sounded much more colder. But her tone remains calm and composed. ]

[bryces_pup]

Yes, that's true. I did have good years with them. But I should have been able to have more. They should not have been taken so soon, my nephew especially.

[Her voice is edged with hardness. They were murdered in cold blood and greed; it would never sit well with her. And she's still not quite ready to let go and fully accept their deaths.]

You have no memory of your family?

[princessia]

[ Having something is better than nothing. She keeps the thought to herself, refraining to ask for further details about her family. She's afraid to bring up any more sad thoughts. ]

I don't remember anything about my family. [ Or much about the majority of her life before meeting Jude and living in Hamil. ] I was only four when they were killed.

[bryces_pup]

Goodness, so young. [Still, not young enough that she wouldn't be able to remember anything.] I am sorry, Elize. You have nothing of theirs to remember them by?

[princessia]

[ Normally bringing up her parents moves her to tears, but she doesn't cry anymore. She simply shakes her head solemnly. ]

No... I really wish I did. Sometimes when I look at something that seems familiar, I think I start to remember something about my past or my family.

[bryces_pup]

That must be frustrating. And you have no other family that could tell you anything?

[princessia]

I don't know if I have any relatives. My former caretaker... he wasn't part of my family, but he might have known more about Mother and Father. He died not very long ago.

[ It's frustrating and there's not much she can do about it. ]

[bryces_pup]

[No, it doesn't sound like there is. Not without a stroke of dumb luck.]

Even more frustrating. I am sorry, Elize. I hope you find out something someday. No one should have to go without knowing what they came from.

[princessia]

I hope I do too. It makes me sad that I don't remember them.

[ She smiles a little though, solemn and gentle. ]

But even if I don't find out anything, I... think it'll still be okay. I'll be okay! I used to feel lonely, but now I have a lot of friends.

[bryces_pup]

Friends are wonderful and they can feel like a family as well. In the months after I lost most of my family, I made friends with a number of people. They... helped me cope. In more ways than they know.