016 ✿ Audio and Action

[occulthymns]

[The first thing that Euri's bracelet is recording is the CRUNCH CRUNCH of snow under her boots. She and Dog are out exploring all of Gefion Park today, curious to see how the snow changes the area surrounding her home.]

The snow is pretty nice! It's a lot more than we'd get back home in Fuggum.

Oh - but I had a question. There's a couple of people here who are royalty, right? How does that work, anyway? How do they get castles? Is it different in every world? The humans back home have royalty, and stories about princes and kings being chivalrous and slaying dragons and rescuing damsels in distress. I think if you marry someone royal you become royal, but I don't really know the details.

So! How does royalty work for everyone else?

[She and Dog will be out wandering all over Gefion for a while, so feel free to run into her in person!]

Comments

1/2

[secondborn]

[It's Euri on the network, so Alastair listens, but the questions she asks give him pause.

Because he's technically royalty.

Or he was, anyway.

But he doesn't like talking about it. Why would he? It's not something to be proud of, and just being royal doesn't mean he's automatically better than anyone else.

Anyway.

It's a little while before he decides to actually respond.]

2/2 Audio

[secondborn]

What brought this up?

Audio

[occulthymns]

Nothing, really. Just a book I'm reading.

[By that she means a really terrible romance novel.]

[secondborn]

Ah.

[Should he answer the questions? He feels like he should, if only to help out. Still, he's not sure how much he can answer comfortably.]

Well, if it helps, royalty where I come from is hereditary.

[occulthymns]

[She's clueless, as usual.]

I was wondering about that! Royal families, I mean. How do they start?

[secondborn]

[Oh, well she stumped him.

Well no, she hasn't.]

...I don't know how it works in other places but where I come from...

[He sighs.] Have I explained the Balance to you yet?

[He's only explained it a few times but it feels like a lot to him, mostly because it still boggles his mind that it isn't common knowledge.]

[occulthymns]

Nope! What is it?

[It doesn't sound like anything she's ever heard of.]

[secondborn]

[Right. Well, here we go again.]

It's... back home, everything is balanced. Life and Death, Creation and Destruction, and Time, which balances all. It's a real thing, and when the Balance is upset, things go badly.

I bring this up because the royalty where I come from are families led by the Keeper, who is in charge of guiding one of the aspects of the Balance.

[occulthymns]

I see.... [Even though her own world doesn't have anything like that, it's fairly easy to understand.]

Does that mean the families have abilities related to their aspect?

[secondborn]

Not just the families. Throughout each land, there are people gifted with one side of the Balance associated with that land. So in the land associated with life and death, there are some gifted with life, and some gifted with death. The Keeper is the only one who has the power of both life and death.

[occulthymns]

Is that what makes them royalty, then? Having both?

[secondborn]

No, it's their guardianship of that aspect of the Balance. The Keeper keeps the Balance, and so they're the ruler.

[occulthymns]

Oh! I think I understand now!

Whose land did you live on?

[secondborn]

The one associated with life and death.

[occulthymns]

Ah. Is... is that good?

[secondborn]

Well it's not bad.

[Okay it is, but it's not supposed to be.]

It's just another part of the Balance.

[occulthymns]

So it doesn't really affect things on a day-to-day scale.

[secondborn]

Not really. We have more healers because of the way a lot of the gifts manifest themselves, but that's not necessarily better than other lands.

[occulthymns]

Why not? It sounds like a good thing to have.

[secondborn]

Karonis lands have Creators, who can make things with a thought.

It's no better than any other land.

[occulthymns]

[Oh snap.]

Okay, that does sound just as useful as healing.

[secondborn]

As I said, it's no better or worse, it's just different.

[occulthymns]

I guess it would mean the different countries would end up... you know... developing differently, too?

[secondborn]

When things were at peace, there was usually a steady trade between them, so the differences were minimal.

That... hasn't been the case for a while.

[occulthymns]

Right... you didn't go near the borders of your region.