And We Danced (Masquerade Overflow!)

[thespaceopera]

The Captcha is upon us, but the party isn't over! Feel free to continue your threads here, start new ones, and continue the dance party!

- Original Mingle
- OOC Post

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Comments

[theirinurpants]

Well, I can honestly say I've never engaged in piracy in my life.

[namisan]

That's probably a good thing. I can't think of many societies who'd be happy to have a pirate as a king.

[theirinurpants]

I met a pirate once who called herself a queen.

[namisan]

Really? [She grins.] Was she a queen of other pirates?

[theirinurpants]

I suppose that's what she thought of herself. She called herself "Queen of the Eastern Seas", so.

[namisan]

That sounds like it. We've got a Pirate Empress back home, too. Up until recently, though, she's had special permission granted by our world government to continue existing.

[theirinurpants]

I, uh, am pretty sure Isabela has never gotten permission to do anything.

[namisan]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure our Empress doesn't care if she has permission or not.

Does your world have an overarching government? Like-- you're the king of your country, or a group of countries. I assume there are other kings somewhere.

[theirinurpants]

Overarching? Not really. I'm king of Ferelden. There's an Empress in Orlais, kings in Nevarra and the Anderfels - though the Grey Wardens mostly rule the Anders. Antiva has a king, too, but everyone knows it's the merchant princes who rule there...

[ He shrugs. ]

The Chantry, maybe, but they don't actually have the power to tell a monarch what to do.

[namisan]

Our world has hundreds of kingdoms, but we have a World Government-- it acts generally on the behest of the Nobles of the world, but they pack some serious firepower and don't take kindly to royals breaking the law, regardless of how much their people love them.

[theirinurpants]

Huh.

Yeah, we don't have anything like that. If a king or queen acts up, it's down to their people to do something about it.

The Orlesians invaded Ferelden - occupied us for almost a century. King Ma- uh, my... father. He was the one who finally kicked them out.

[namisan]

A royal governing body has jurisdiction over their own land, and their people will usually act to remove them if they're bad without interference from the World Government. The World Government is a marine body; they have jurisdiction over the oceans. If anything crosses into their jurisdiction, they trump the ruling authority in that region.

[She gives him an interested look.] Were you around to witness that, or was that before you were born?

[theirinurpants]

Nobody has control of the oceans where I'm from. That's why there's so many pirates.

[ He shrugs. ]

No, he was a young man when he did all that. I never knew my father at all.

[namisan]

[Well, 'controlling' the oceans isn't what she'd say. There are thousands of pirates on the seas. But she lets that die, given what he follows up with.]

...at all? I'm sorry.

[theirinurpants]

[ Alistair shrugs a little. ]

Difficult to miss what you never had in the first place. He never wanted me and never acknowledged me, and he disappeared when I was quite young, anyway.

[namisan]

...what happened to the throne in the meantime?

[theirinurpants]

My half-brother became king, once everyone realized Maric wasn't coming back.

[namisan]

So how did you become King?

[Because the inference she's getting is Alistair was nowhere near the place.]

[theirinurpants]

He died? That's usually what happens.

[namisan]

[That's not what she meant, but--

Well.]

...I'm probably asking too many questions. I can stop.

[theirinurpants]

No, you're not. It's just common knowledge where I come from. Cailan was betrayed by his general, killed in battle, and the country almost ended up in a civil war.

The - a friend of mine, managed to stop him, and then they made me king.

[namisan]

I hope the general got what was coming to him.