Coronation of a King (Open)

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The halls of the Castle were filled with Xoyan royals, Lords and Lady's, and special guests from around the world. Scales glittering brightly in the light, polished and cleaned, jewels shimmering. Today was the day of the Royal Coronation of the New King of the Xoyans. Tables were filled with fresh game, cooked and raw, pastries and desserts were eager to be eaten. The Castle was decorated with beautiful decorations, flowers, gold, and any stunning stone you could ever find. All of the Generals and Armies were pulled from the front lines, all to come home to celebrate the new King. Peace was among the tribe this day, even on the streets of the Empire showed signs of happiness. Dragons selling their best of products, awaiting the announcement of the new King. Since the previous Ruler, Queen Gemini, had not returned or was heard of for many months. Turning into chaos, the streets of the Empire turned to bloodbaths, even inside the castle there was a frantic search for the next ruler. The next heir to the throne was not found, as if the whole bloodline... Disappeared. But that was in the past, the word of a new ruler, and a King was in the air. It was the liveliest the Empire has seen. On special occasions, the Xoyan tribe would celebrate, then go back to their normal lives. The Ceremony would take place in a few days time, for now, the King would arrive soon, coming from his post near the heart of enemy territory. Soon, the kingdom would be back under control of a powerful leader, and celebration was quite needed in the gloom of the now passing storm.

Haven shivered, pulling his warm bear coat closer to his neck and chest. The army had been sent home slowly, station by station until his station was the only station left to leave. Making sure everyone got home first. He spread his wings, making a loud roar to signal the departure from the cold, frigid weather of the mountains. It was stormy, a good whirl of snow hit his face. Taking off into the air, the 30 dragons behind him followed, as a large cloud of black scales ascended above the clouds for warmer weather. The travel would take all day, better get started now.
They crossed terrain quickly, the ground a blur. They were past the cold, leaving his coat back at a lake he could not name a few hours back. The sun beat down on the desert they now flew above, his instincts catching waves of vegetation many miles to go, but they were close to home. His warriors felt it as well, energy surging through their bodies. His enormous shadow sent animals scurrying to their burrows.
They crossed into Xoyan territory, his soldiers yelling and roaring with glee. They stopped at an outpost, a soldier nearly jumping out of his skin, bowing low to the new King. Resting, Haven finally looked to his warriors, proud of their return and their job as protectors of the Empire. He took a deep breath, "And now I say, to go back to your homes and your families, enjoy your time with them, you have all deserved it." They all murmured among themselves, Haven feeling the energy spike. "Let us move on." He commanded, taking to the air once more. An hour later they would find themselves at the entrance to their Empire... His Empire.

As they landed, one by one outside the large gate, heavily guarded, cheers could already be heard, faces in the crowed smiling with glee. The smell of the trees, life, and food wafted from all around him. The large trees that toward over him felt familiar as he looked up at them. He stepped into his Empire, for the first time in years. He looked around, he was larger for his kind, and the crowd slowly ceased their chanting, their laughter, their cheer. Whispers spread among them like a rapid fire. Words of fear were scattered. Some stepped away. Haven was confused, looking to a guard who didn't look back. All of these dragons were pretty, scales shinning, polished, even the guards' scales were untouched. He looked at his warriors who had slipped off one by one, a few happy cries being heard from a far. His long neck swiveled around as he stared at a few faces, those few avoiding eye contact. He kept walking, the city quiet as they stared at their new king. I bet they expected a dragon in shinning armor, smaller, and cleaner looking Haven thought, a faint flutter of disapproval. They now had a good look of what war really was. Broken scales, broken horns and scars. They all began to bow as he came to the bottom of the stairs to the large castle that lay in the heart of the Xoyan Empire. His new home. Trumpets sounded, and slowly but surely the crowd began to chant and sing again.

Echoed around him, their voices in unison. The Lords and Lady's waited at the entry way, bowing low. Stepping into the cool and pleasant building, he took in a deep breath, his pockets on his neck, shoulders, and chest whistling loudly. There were many greetings, fake smiles, and greedy eyes. He moved past, even the halls to the castle were cramped with arrivals, from other tribes and his own. He nodded in respect to those who bowed, servants bustling around him, asking him many questions.
"So what's it like having a war?" Asked a mouthy, and quite fat dragon, gold laced all around him, a smug smile. Wine in a golden cup was in his grasp, the color a silvery white. Haven would probably never get used to this, all of these pampered dragons, not knowing what true war was. But that is what he did, fought to protect the dragons that lived in this kingdom, the hatchlings and the innocent.
"Death. Destruction. Maybe I'll put you on the front lines." He said, voice chilled, giving an unsettling smile. The other dragon shut his mouth quickly.
A servant moved quickly to Haven's side, asking where he would like to go.
"Show me to my chambers and I will be fine." He got out, soon followed by a sea of questions. Pushing past the dragons he finally got to a hallway, a spike of excitement running through his veins. To the right, a large opening with gold and carvings lining the wall, a stunning sight that nearly left him speechless. Decorative pictures hung upon the walls, previous Kings, Queens and Nobles were there, strung up with the look of a Royal written upon their faces. His picture would soon be up there. Now this, this room was the most decorated, the most lit up that he had seen so far. This was the throne room. The magnificent throne, obsidian and diamond sat in the center of the room.There were beautiful chiseled stairs that lead right to it. A smile tugged at his lips as the crowd of dragons followed. The large windows letting in sun in vast amounts. He walked up and laid down on the beautiful throne, posing himself nobly, looking down at the many guests. A voice announced him,


Haven finally gave in, smiling, tail curled up majestically.

Hearing a voice speak behind him, Oculus turned his gaze towards a petite dragoness approaching him. For his sake, he really hoped it was not a female trying to get something from him by hitting on him. Hearing Imperia's question, he chortled, a smile curling actors said his father ace as he titled his head up a bit while gazing at Imperia. "I like competence, dragons who work hard to better themselves. Most of these drakes took their parents wealth and splurge on it. A waste of space if you ask me.". Somewhat confused at Imperia's manner and lack of Xoyan accent, he tried to pinpoint her origin. While proud of his Captaincy of the Skygger, the General of Intelligence part was something he was still working out. An amused smile remained on his face at Imperia's comment on power, finding it humorous that she would think someone as young as him was worried about a power struggle. "Fear of losing power? Darling, I am just a young drake thrust into an important position, a position I didn't adopt by blood... well... family blood that is.". Oculus debated if he should let Imperia's mind ponder what he meant by that, or explain it further. He decided on the prior. "I have no plans of a private war. As long as that oaf refrains from interrupting the doings of the Skygger and doesn't blunder his power. FOr now, I am merely just enjoying the show..." Looking of in the direction of Haven, he could see the hostile language of body directed at Delillah. Splendid. Delillah must be getting under his skin already. "You don't appear to be Xoyan. What tribe are you from, miss...?"

Athena had never visited Shveki lands before. Probably because of the climate. Swamps and deserts weren't her ideal place of fun. Heat weakened her, after all. However, when she had heard that the Xoya were getting themselves a new King, curioisity drove her to cross the border and into the kingdom. It seemed, after months of bloodshed, they had finally gotten themselves under control. Hmph.


The castle was perhaps thd biggest thing Athena had seen in ages. It towered over the landscape, looming like a dragon over it's prey. Magnificent. Gazing up at it for a moment, Athena gasped as somebody knocked into her, a big dragon with a bit too much weight packed on his belly. He didn't even glance back. Athena growled, sending a look of death his way, before she turned and leaped up onto a wall, saving herself from further trampling. Walking along, she settled down and let her tail hang in the breeze, waiting for the new King to make his appearance.


He was.. Well, perhaps he was beautiful once, but now, one could tell he had earned his stripes in war, torn enemies in two. Scars and marks adorned his features, cracked scales and one broken horn catching ehr attention. She found herself unable to look away from him as he made his way into the castle, badgered by his subjects. She snorted at their syrup-sweet smiles and sugary words. Pathetic. Many followed him inside, although most stayed out, chattering excitadly. She rolled her eyes. Eugh..

It was hot out here. The warm air washed over her scales and sent her jaws parting slightly, her tongue poking out slightly from between her pearly whites in an effort to cool herself. Perhaps inside would be cooler.. Hopping down, Athena waded through the crowd, painfully aware of how she stood out amongst all the darker colored dragons. Some glanced, others didn't.


Suddenly, someone slammed into her from behind and Athena whirled around, tail raised, to see another big, pampered dragon covered in gold and jewels. Never fought a day in his life.. She thought, baring her fangs. Watch it! She growled. The Noble snorted, peering at her with distaste, before he moved off. Fat old grinch.. She had the urge to say this out loud, but refraimed from doing so. The last thing she needed to do was cause a scene.



Ahh.. She held back a sigh of relief as cool aie washed over her. Lovely. She gritted her teeth in frustration at the nobles taking up the hallways, and waded through them, twisting and turning in an effort to not hit their precious, noble bodies.

The throne room was incredibly fancy, perhaps the most expensive looking room she'd ever seen. As the King turned around and sat on the seat, her eyes immediately went to his scars. She glanced down at her own. Funny, how alike we are..

Moving further into the Throne Room, Athena stayed away from the crowd, instead settling down in a corner to watch the show. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a sleek black dragoness, wearing a mask that disguised all emotion as neutrality. A few moments later, a male joined her, standing by her side. She couldn't make out what they were saying, but they seemed to know each other, judging by the relaxed atmosphere between them.


As the light show began, Athena found herself transfixed by the animals that danced around the room, leaping and jumping through the air. As one circled her, she followed it with her eyes. She swiped at it with a wing, but it danced just out of reach, returning to it's torch. She didn't like magic, feared it even, but little things like this.. They were nice.

A flash of silver made Athena turn her head, and then she saw her, a petite, slender dragoness, scales a shimmering silver. She had a friendly expression on her, greeting drakes and ladies with a lively smile on her face. Unlike the others, her smile wasn't a fake one, plastered upon her face in an effort to disguise her true nature, to catch the King's eye, no. Hers was a genuine one. Hmph.

Watching her, Athena observed out of the corner of her eye as she approached the male, and they soon were engaged in a conversation. Adverting her eyes, Athena soon grew bored at the sight of the snake-smiles glued onto the nobles faces as they danced and chatted and giggled endlessly. Uh.. They were fancy, but stupid. She felt sorry for the King, having to rule such incompetent lizards that called themselves dragons.

A dark grey dragoness entered the room and glanced at her. Athena met her eyes and the female offered her a smile, more like a snake's smirk. What? Athena snapped, not in the mood for games. The femal's face contorted and she huffed, moving on. Athena heard her mutter commoners, ugh, under her breath. The fighter took great pleasure in comparing their differences. Her own frame was lean and muscular, fit to fight and win a battle. This female's shape was more inclined to that of a barrel. Are all nobles fat? She wondered, watching her merge with the crowd and disappearing.

Sephtis, Xoyan Skygger. The words even sounded powerful when spoken in quick succession in a proper Xoyan voice. He'd finally reached the position he'd been aspiring for for the past... almost eight centuries. He wouldn't let it get to him... He did wonder how many of the nobles he could have killed just on his way into the palace. It would have been easy too, and for some of them he'd probably enjoy it... He looked up to see a couple of statues shimmer... Either they were skyggers protecting the king, or... something else. He scanned the crowds and spotted two very clearly non-Xoyans in the gathering. He'd be watching them closely, along with anyone near the king. He was here... Why was he here? What was the point? This was just one big opportunity to assassinate the new Kommandant. He filled his venomous tail to the brim, just in case he'd have need of it. He always did enjoy watching an enemy die a slow, painful death... He spotted Herre Oculus and the General of Defense in the crowd. Two more high priority targets for any enemies. Along with any of the skyggers, which now included himself. Of course, skyggers would just kill their attackers easily. That reminded him... He needed to train more often now. He could only improve... Of course, he didn't want to get any higher than Skygger. If he did he wouldn't have enough time to hunt down his parents murderers... And he didn't want to be sending someone else to do it for him. He wanted to be there to see the light leave their eyes... One of the nobles bumped into him. It seemed like they were always doing that... And he was small. He debated for a few seconds on whether that was an offense worthy of death, and quickly decided it wasn't, yet... He realized that he hadn't retracted his claws when one of them scraped against a tile... He quickly retracted his claws and kept moving. As another stupid noble bumped into him, his mind wandered back to what paperwork the higher-ups would have to go through if he killed all the nobles down this hallway... He was pretty sure he could do it. Maybe just one? That wouldn't be so bad would it? Obviously he couldn't kill Imperia, whom he'd recognized as the small silver dragon with the constant, sickeningly happy, grin. He grabbed the noble who'd bumped into him and whispered coldly in Xoyan, "Touch me again and I'll tear your throat out right here, right now..." He pushed the noble away into the crowd, making sure to leave a couple, very small claw marks on his scales and jewelry. He hated large crowds... Another reason why he didn't want to be here... Maybe he could kill that other foreigner. He was rapidly getting bored... All this time the only emotion he'd shown was a slight snarl at the noble he'd threatened. Well... Time for the actual crowning, then maybe he'd go do some hunting. Maybe something interesting would happen?

Observing the room, Athena's eyes wandered to the statues lined up along the walls above. They were in perfect uniform, staring down at the crowd with a watchful gaze. She eyed them for a moment longer before she heard her stomach rumble.

Ah, yes.. plenty of food here.

The smell of wonderfully cooked meat made saliva pool into her mouth, but she fought against the urge. She wouldn't eat nobles' food, and not out of respect either. She didn't want their fancy meats or their lavish stews. Something about eating it just made her feel.. sick.

Blinking, Athena glanced at the statues again. There was something.. odd, about them, although she couldn't place it.

Through the excited chatter, she heard an angry voice. Turning her head, her tail swished and came to still at her side at the sight of a male, covered in a mixture of black scales and multi-colored fur, getting a hold of a rich dragon who stared at him with wide eyes. Athena strained to hear what he said, but the din of the crowd prevented her from picking up his words, and the male shoved the dragon away from him. She chuckled at the noble's face. Satisfying.

Blinking, Athena observed him for a moment. Like her, he seemed bored at the show. She couldn't blame him. She was expecting a speech of some sort from 'His Royal Majesty,' but then again, she didn't know Xoyan customs. Perhaps they did things differently then other tribes. Huffing, Athena glanced down at her tail and pricked up her spikes to entertain herself, lifting them up and down in time to a song in her head.


If nothing happens within the next ten minutes.. she decided. I'm getting the heck out of here. She'd shown up for entertainment, and so far only the Light Show had sufficed.

Hey Haven, I suggest skipping Delillah so we can keep the topic moving. Just have her fade into the crowd or something till she returns.

//Nu, no skipping. I'm back alright.//

Delillah scarcely watched the king as he spoke, her face showing no more than her usual apathetic visual features except for the smirk that slid upon her maw. He began rambling on about some history and for a moment she wondered whether he actually thought she appeared like she’d care for such things. Allowing her white gaze to wander over him she allowed a slight chuckle to escape her maw as he spoke of not being a savage. If she was blunt, then she wasn’t so sure that that was quite correct. Amused about his attacked demeanour she pulled her gaze back upwards towards his face. Oh, she feasted upon what she found there. Everything had held a threatening mannerism about him since the moment he began conversing with her, yet the displeasure she found in his crimson eyes was pure amusement to her. She continued to listen to his wannabe king speech restraining herself from voicing her remarks. A shame for she had such wonderful ones. Nonetheless, who was she to make the king uneasy before his grand crowning. Regardless of the fact that she was sure he was absolutely capable of handling some comments tossed at him she, to her own astonishment, decided upon not doing so.  

Delillah cared not for his remarks and comments. She gazed down at the food in antipathy and boredom as he came to an end, growling slightly at the command to scatter. She’d thought that a dragon who neglected the tag of savage had the manners to at least end their fruitful conversation with a proper excuse for a farewell. How disappointing. It appeared that her King wouldn’t be as much fun as she had earlier anticipated, she thought. She glanced around the room with a mask of disinterest while she gave Haven another few heartbeats of a thought before she caught the announcement. She returned her focus to him and held his gaze intently and with a chuckle “Very well your majesty. Enjoy your crowning, beware that you do not trip. The stairs are quite something to get used to, and we wouldn’t Schveki’s most precious possession to fall and make a fool of himself, would we now?” she marked maliciously, tugging her wings in tighter as her dazzling frame lowered into an opulent and dramatic bow that held no less mock and amusement than any of her other actions.

She held the bow for several heartbeats before she rose again and turned away. Alongside a short smirk she began her retreat towards the stairs upon which Oculus stood. Her polished and naturally alluring scales reflected the comfortable candle light within the room making her undoubtedly a soft light, much to the remorse of many males. While she was mostly smaller than the rest, the crowd began to part ever so slightly, whether it was because of her lethal gaze, her glorious self or a mixture of the two she wasn’t quite sure yet neither did she care much.

Imperia smiled to Oculus. "What gave me away? The honest smile or the silver colour? I'm miss Imperia, of the Stormcaller tribe; here as a diplomat."
She glanced over the crowd thoughtfully.
"Dragons like those ones are not allowed status in our tribe. Too repressive. Still the only way to fight cruelty is with kindness..."
Her eyes caught Delillah.
"She's one of yours isn't she? A seductress I suppose? Meant to charm the king and keep him under your control. You are indeed young, but I find myself struggling to underestimate your ambition."

A smiled adorned Oculus’s maw as he looked up from his small chat with imperia, observing the scene as Haven had the pleasure of meeting his infamous Skygger. The sassyness in her voice was practically mixing and drooling from her as the sarcasm leaked out. He was curious if Haven would make a scene out of it, or just brush it off and move forward. What caught him by complete suprise was not the scene, or imperia’s remark of Haven being nice. No, Delillah... a seductress... just imagining it caused him to snort and chuckle as he rapidly tried to compose himself, but his eyes still glistened with laughter. Oh dear Queen, pray Delillah never heard you call her that, less hse might make a vendetta against you.” Watching Delillah come up next to him, he just smiled to her. “I see you had a dashing talking with out new leader... oh! Where are my manners? Delillah, this is Imperia, acting as a diplomat for the Stormcallers, one of the few to show up outside our tribe. Imperia, Delillah, the master of small talk and emotions.”