The Senate was representitives of the various aristocrats who were mostly old money and political influence, decadent, powerhungry, and influential. There were two major factions identified by the two families that led those factions.
The Barows family was money-oriented. International trade, ties of money and mutual interest. This faction was for normalizing relations with the other countries, beefing up their own trade and building financial strength. Eventually this would benefit everyone down to the commoners and farmhands as everyone would have more money. Or so their reasoning went from those comments.
The Godwins had a different idea. Military strength was paramount for defense. Armes Kingdom had already invaded once a few years back and any time now might do the same. There were no countries that could or would come to Falena's defense that time, so no outside force could be relied on. Their philosophy was to build the strength of the nation and use the Sun Rune's power to enforce it - eventually conquering other nations in order to bring security to their own. THEN and only then, with safety assured by "buffer states" and the Sun Rune's power - could efforts to better things within Falena be given full due.
There was no third faction unless you counted a few scattered independents and the royal family.
"I-I'm so sorry, Prince! The clerk in charge of the list is on break right now!" said the official.
"On break?" asked Lymseleia.
"All clerks of the Senate are allowed four fifteen-minute breaks and a half hour lunch by contract," said the official. "It was a perk put into their contracts for having to deal with Senators all day."
"Ah." "I see." "That makes sense." "Certainly."
Wandering through the Senate building, there were certainly a few interesting comments. For the most part all it took was a simple hello and someone would reveal which faction they were associated with.
In the Senate chambers, they ran into a fat toad of a man who introduced himself as "Salum Barows".
Neither Faroush nor Ranma were particularly paying attention to the way the be-ringed and overly forward toad blathered on. If he said anything of importance, it was hidden in a rush of overbearing phrases that had clearly been rehearsed.
The only interesting point was when he tried to grab Lym's hand and Miakis pulled a blade out and threatened to remove Euram's hand for improper behavior regarding the Princess. "Only two men are allowed to touch the Princess. Her brother, her father. When she gets engaged that'll change, but for now. Let's just say that any other man's hand touching her would have to be removed..."
"I'm s-s-s-so sorry!" cowered Euram, his prepared dialogue flying out the window. "Her beauty must have dazzled me so that I lost my wits! Please forgive me!"
Miakis dropped his arm, looking disgusted instead of amused.
"But allow me this, Your Loveliness!" recovered Euram. "Allow me to predit our future, with all those present as our witnesses! I, Euram Barows, will someday be the third man to touch you!"
"Um," said Lym, eyeing the thin blonde and feeling that a strong wind might break him in half. "What are you talking about?"
Salum spoke up with a laugh. "He speaks of the Sacred Games, Princess! He's one of the applicants, you see!"
Lym looked puzzled still. And perhaps a bit nauseous. "I see."
"Fierce competitors will gather from all over the country - from beyond its borders even - but I do not fear them!" proclaimed Euram. "In your name Princess, victory will be mine!"
"You must be stronger than you look," said Lym, her glance aside at her brother indicating she thought this guy was full of bovine digestive products. "Can you really swing a sword?"
Euram laughed. "Her Highness jests? A sword? Me? I'm no barbarian. We have found a mighty champion! He shall carve my way to your heart!"
"My heart's got no place for a wimp like you," said Lymseleia, cutting to the point.
"W-w-w-wimp? Wha- who- Your Royal Highness?" asked Euram, before fumbling at his sleeves. A few cue cards tumbled out, indicating that yes indeed this WAS a prepared speech.
"You want to be my husband?" asked Lymseleia. "Why don't you earn the right yourself, like my father did?"
Sialeeds was clearly amused by all this, but spoke up. "Hey, Lym, I understand how you feel, but -"
"It's a long-standing tradition," said Salum Barows, puffing himself up. "One may have a representitive compete in the tournament for him. It's not unlike how in a court of law one might have an attorney to battle on one's account."
"Nicely put," said Sialeeds, a little surprised at the metaphor.
Lym humphed, clearly not impressed.
"Otherwise, the royal family would be filled with barbarians who were good only at fighting," smoothly went Salum. "Not that His Majesty Ferid is a barbarian. Please don't misunderstand me. There's no need for animosity. When Euram wins your hand, we'll be the ones supporting you. You and I shall be allies. I'm sure you know of Her Majesty's difficulties with the Godwin faction. Lord Godwin is a bloodthirsty maniac who thinks only of wringing more taxes from the people in order to expand our army and suppress rebellion. He wishes to use the Sun Rune to subjugate our neighbors and rule the world. If we cannot hold back his lunacy, our enemies abroad will multiply and Falena will fall apart! Together, you and I-"
"Enough!" said Faroush, having enough of this. "We're not siding with the Godwins. We're not siding with the Barows. We're on OUR side. You of all people should know that we can't show favor to any single group."
"B-but of course, I-" said Salum, not having expected the normally quiet prince to break in like that.
"Lym, come along," said Faroush, "I think my travels have made me a bit edgy and some quiet would be a good thing."
"Right, brother!" chirped Lym, seizing on the excuse. "Gotta run!"
"So this is the list," said Sialeed, not adding the "finally!" that everyone was thinking.
flump unroll unroll unroll unroll unroll unroll unroll unroll unroll unroll
"You're kiddin' me," said Faroush.
"Why'd everything go dark?" asked Lym, covered by a section of scroll.
"A lot of these have lines through them," noted Sialeeds. "How many?"
"Two thousand," began the clerk.
"EEK!" said Lym as she came out from underneath the scroll.
"At least at first, but we were able to pare the numbers down," said the clerk. "There was a lot of last minute applicants for some reason. We took off ex-convicts, minus those from enemy countries, we were going to subtract those with no martial experience but one of those took it harshly and demonstrated considerable skill with an odd cooking implement. On the basis of that there remain three hundred twenty five contestants."
"Whoa, you're really popular, aren't you, Princess?" asked Miakis.
"With that many, maybe there's some that aren't like Euram Barows," conceded Lym.
"Don't worry, Princess, he's one of a kind," consoled Kyle.
"After the final screening process and the royal family's approval," continued the clerk, "the final number of competitors ought to be below a hundred. We're going to have to have extra days added though. Originally we were only expecting a final number of about thirty."
"So what kind of suckers, I mean 'brave warriors', do we have?" asked Kyle.
"An ex-Dragon Calvary soldier, a Lindwurm Mercenary, a disciple of Master Haia from Kanakan?" said Lyon, reading the scroll. "Wow, what an amazing lineup."
"You don't know half of it," said Faroush, recognizing a name on the list.
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(Posted Sun, 06 Aug 2006 01:07)
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