Jered, Almeria's messenger, rode through the woods until he came to the palace of the Nobyl girl Tarava. Getting off his horse, he knocked at the door.

Little did he know the importance of the letter he held.

It read:

Dear Lady Tarava,

I have heard that you and Arietis are interested in joining the Resistance. Never mind how I know; that will be explained later. To be brief, I myself have become increasingly involved in Resistance activities over the years and wish to know if I might help you. Should you wish to reclaim the pur al-Mari palace, which is one of my husband's estates, I should be happy to do whatever you require. Send back a letter with the messenger who brings this to you. He is completely trustworthy, and so am I. You may recall that we have met a few times before; I hope what I said to you then will help you believe in my goodwill towards you and all those who are in the Resistance.

Sincerely,

Lady Almeria

^Tarava^

Someone knocked at the door, and a moment later a servant entered. "My lady," he said, "it's a messenger from Lady Almeria. He insisted he had to see you."

"Lady Almeria?" Tarava glanced up, startled. Lord Helion's wife, which wasn't what she'd been expecting. Certainly the last thing she wanted was for anyone from Lord Helion's palace to know that Arietis was here right now, though the Lady Almeria had always seemed uninterested in her husband's violent affairs. She turned to Arietis. "I'm so sorry... I'd better see him. Will you excuse me?"

Arietis agreed, and Tarava went into another, more formal room to receive the messenger. The servant showed him in, and Tarava greeted him with a smile. "How wonderful to receive news from Lady Almeria," she exclaimed, sliding instantly into the charming, silly Nobyl girl. "Is she well?"

The messenger assured her she was, and dropped a sheet of paper into her hands. She hesitated, waiting for him to leave, but he told her that he had been asked to wait for a reply, and with a shrug Tarava opened the letter.

Dear Lady Tarava,

I have heard that you and Arietis are interested in joining the Resistance. Well, there Helion's wife was mistaken: they had already joined the Resistance; but perhaps it was just as well that she didn't know all of it. But how did she know anything-- Never mind how I know; that will be explained later. To be brief, I myself have become increasingly involved in Resistance activities over the years...

Tarava scanned the rest of the letter briefly. It was primarily an offer of her assistance in whatever way it might be needed. But how in all Kyngdom did Lady Almeria know that she and Arietis were planning an attack on the pur al-Mari estate? She thought with sudden uncertainty of the discussion in the garden; had they been as safe as they had believed? She and Lord Helion's wife had met before, and she was inclined to trust the elegant, beautiful woman with a trace of sadness underlying her subtle loveliness. But one thing was certain: she couldn't give away Arietis. This had to be just her.

She smiled at the messenger. "If you'll wait for one moment, I'll give you an answer," she told him, turning to pen a quick reply at a nearby desk.

Esteemed Lady Almeria,

I will be honest with you: I am indeed somewhat interested in the movements of the Resistance. I gratefully believe in your good-will, and venture to assure you that it is in all ways returned by me; I have always held you in highest regard and am only too happy to accept your offer of help now. Your husband's palace is indeed a point of interest to the Resistance, and your assistance would be of infinite value to us.

With many thanks,

Lady Tarava

She would have to ask the members of the Resistance in Mer if Lady Almeria really was one of them, she reflected as she folded the paper and handed it to the messenger.

~

@pangolin, I definitely still want to continue with Tarava and Arietis' conversation - this is just a short developing of the action on the side :)

That evening, Helion returned late and flung himself into a chair by the fireplace. The night had grown cold, and though he didn't say he had gotten chilled, his face was pale - Almeria had learned to recognize that as a sign that he wasn't well.

"How'd it go?" she asked quietly, sitting across from him on one of the old sofas.

"Badly," he returned brusquely, and said no more. Silence reigned.

Then Jered, the messenger, came in, holding an envelope. Unlike Helion, his face was rosy from the cold air and exercise. "Your Ladyship, here is a letter." He was ignoring Helion.

"Thank you, Jered," said Almeria calmly, getting up from the sofa. Helion turned his head toward her.

"What letter? Who wrote to you?"

"Just an old friend," returned Almeria, trying to sound surprised, as if she hadn't expected him to take any interest in her affairs. "I don't know why it should interest you - since you never pay any attention to what I do and who I spend time with -"

"I'm not in the mood to argue today, Almeria," Helion cut in. Which was exactly what she wanted him to say.

She thanked Jered again and went upstairs to her bedroom, where she sat down to read it. It was from Tarava.

Esteemed Lady Almeria,

I will be honest with you: I am indeed somewhat interested in the
movements of the Resistance. I gratefully believe in your good-will, and
venture to assure you that it is in all ways returned by me; I have
always held you in highest regard and am only too happy to accept your
offer of help now. Your husband's palace is indeed a point of interest
to the Resistance, and your assistance would be of infinite value to us.

With many thanks,

Lady Tarava

Good. That was settled then. Now for plans. She wondered if she could get Jered in touch with leaders of the Resistance and have them lend supplies and so on to Tarava. Helion would not be visiting the al-Mari palace for some time - or at least, that was what she was fairly sure of - and if everything worked out, soon the Resistance would just have won a major victory.

i’m so sorry this took so long!! i’ve been drowning in schoolwork, and i didn’t realize it’d been so long since i last replied D: thanks for being so patient!! <3 and yeah, i’m all for developing the action~

-Arietis-

Tarava looked thoughtful for a moment, considering all the ways Kalam could help them with their journey to Mer - talking to the Resistance leaders, accompanying them to Ertim, finding a place for them to stay in Mer. “The leaders know how to maintain secrecy,” Tarava said; “once we can actually get through to them, we shouldn’t have many difficulties. And Mer is such a beautiful town - I’m sure there won’t be too much suspicion even if we’re openly seen going into it now and then. Hopefully we’ll be able to manage things with them.” 

Arietis nodded. Their plans were all falling into place now, and Arietis felt, for once, that she might actually be able to help resolve the conflict her father had been protecting her from her entire life. Being a member of the Resistance was no longer a child’s fantasy; it was her new reality. Just as she was about to agree with Tarava’s plans, there was a firm knock on the door, and then a servant entered.

“My lady, it’s a messenger from Lady Almeria,” the servant said, and Arietis’s head jerked up. “He insisted he had to see you.”

“Lady Almeria?” Tarava stood and turned to Arietis. “I’m so sorry… I’d better see him. Will you excuse me?” 

“O-of course,” Arietis stammered, and Tarava left the room. Arietis’s mind was racing; what did Lady Almeria - Lord Helion’s wife - want with Tarava? She couldn’t have found out that Tarava was a member of the Resistance, could she have? And if she did somehow know, did Lord Helion know? What would Catastrophe’s general do to a pair of “traitor” Nobyls? 

Arietis didn’t want to think about that. It had to be - an invitation to a party. Yes, that was it, nothing more. Arietis was making a big deal out of things.

Tarava re-entered the room, and Arietis stood up, her fingers falling away from her ring (she hadn’t realized she’d begun to fidget with it). “Is everything alright?”

Again, that's entirely all right! Don't worry, really :)

^Tarava^

As soon as Tarava re-entered the room, Arietis started up. "Is everything alright?" she asked.

Of course, she'd been worrying. "I think so," Tarava said with a reassuring smile. "At least, I think so. If that makes sense. The Lady Almeria has evidently discovered that we're linked to the Resistance and planning a takeover of the palace, and she wanted to offer her help. We evidently weren't as safe as we thought we were, last night..." She frowned. "I've met Lady Almeria before, though, and she's never seemed at all interested in her husband's affairs. I don't believe she'd betray us; we'll have to ask the other Resistance members about her when we go to Mer, though." She sat down. "Anyway, where were we? Yes, of course, that we might be able to go straight into Mer. And going to Ertim - what should be our excuse for going there? We could say a friend of ours was having a wedding, or just invited us to stay there with her. Or we could go to visit some dressmaker, it must have some good ones."

One thing had occurred to her as she left the messenger's presence and made her way back to this room: what if Arietis had suspected her of treachery, of exchanging messages with Lady Almeria in secret? But no, thank goodness, either their friendship or Arietis' probable inexperience had averted that. There was nothing Tarava wanted less than for Arietis to suddenly wonder whether she could be trusted.

And Kalam should be arriving from one moment to the next... why was he taking so long?

@Pangolin, I know you're busy right now and as always I'm completely fine with waiting, but are we still continuing this...? No pressure whatsoever, and don't feel bad, I'm just wondering :)

*gaspp* Origami says <endme>!! No I'm not ending you, Origami, you are my precious captcha--

Since nothing is happening at the Nobyl RP at the moment, I'm going to have my charrie Estrelle throw a party (nothing fancy or big like Lord Helion's ball, just a small, casual one), where anyone can join in if they'd like.

`Estrelle`

Estrelle, tired after a long night at Lord Helion's ball, sunk rather ungracefully onto the fancy silk sofa in her family's living room. She was looking forward to rest, and a calm, peaceful next few days. However, that turned out not to be the case.

"Estrelle," her father said. "It turns out that our previously planned party, which was scheduled to be tomorrow, clashes with our invitation to visit the pur Ethyas for a few days. We obviously cannot cancel either. So I have decided that me, Erielle, and your aunt would travel to visit the pur Ethyas like planned, while you will host the party. This will be a perfect chance to prove that you can make the pur Kays name proud.”

Estrelle sighed inwardly, but outwardly, she smiled politely and said, “Certainly, Father. I will hold an elegant party for the Nobyls nearby.”

“Good. Estrelle, I am counting on you.” With that, her father left.

~

Estrelle scanned the guest list, checking to see if she sent out the invitations. She had randomly chosen Nobyls, some of which she didn’t even know the name of or have never talked to. She sent them nonetheless, wanting to get the party over with. The party’s real point was probably just to show off wealth, and frankly, Estrelle didn’t care for any of that. The only guest she took care to invite was Kalisse, and she also took care to not invite Cresseth. Basically, if anyone who wasn’t on the guest list showed up, she wouldn’t care less and would welcome them just as warmly as the others.

Estrelle checked to see if everything was in place—lights, furniture, refreshments—and finally stood primly, waiting for guests to show up.

Just wanted to let everyone know about Estrelle hosting a Nobyl party, as an easy way for anyone who wants to join in and have something to do!

I'd like to join this rp, but I don't know if I have time to read it all and catch up with what's going on. Should I read it all before I join or could it perhaps be summarized?

Nope you don't really need to know anything about the previous, since its a completely separate party, though it would be helpful to know if your charrie supports the Resistance or Catastrophe or is neutral. Other than that, its just a casual party to enjoy :)

Yes, it isn't too important to know what's been happening before; basically there's just been a party at the estate of Lord Helion, where two of Moon Wolf's charries met and two charries of pangolin's and mine also met. They're currently planning to take over Helion's palace, but that won't happen for a while yet and has nothing to do with Moon Wolf's party :)