After another week of traveling the more hospitable roads of the Ocilon empire they make it to castle von Blauwald. This is the most eastern stronghold of the Ocilon empire and thus forms a direct line of communication with the entire eastern half of Essanys. It is a more recent addition to the Ocilon empire, a mere 10 years ago they still acted independently but now they are fully subjugated. The main castle von Blauwald sits on a hill watching over the nearby city, Hazzlefrust. It is merely a couple of weeks of foot travel removed from the city of Lynn, the modern capital of the Ocilon empire. Between these two cities lies a thick forest known as Blauwald, that is difficult to traverse and has lots of wildlife and the occasional bandit, although in recent years, Ocilon patrols have severely limited bandit activity on the main roads.

  They enter the large castle, its walls and towers are pristine, having never seen any actual combat in its centuries long existence. It may be one of the most beautiful castles they've ever witnessed. Its height is immense with many large towers, some connected by elevated bridges. This area was heavily fortified long ago as a pre-emptive defensive measure for future Arcana kingdom expansion. This is the final choke point before entering the Ocilon empire, and as such perfectly suited for defensive measures. However the Arcana kingdom has always expanded south and east, never bothering to go north, not yet at least. Presumably they won't expand north or west till they subjugate the northern kingdoms, after which they will control every region surrounding the bottled sea, since the Cavas region is mostly empty anyway.

  The main gate is large enough to fit three carts through it at the same time. four guards greet them, they are wearing beautiful ornate armour with gold trimming. We're a party of royal messengers, we were sent on behalf of the Frigus empire. Kilian says. Then he shows his scroll and a royal seal. What's with this elven boy? One of the guards asks. Foley gives him a frustrated look. He's our local guide, we'd be nowhere without him, Kilian replies. Well alright then.. he can pass.

  Greetings on behalf of the Blauwald kingdom, please continue to our main hallway where you will be directed to our guest room for a hearty meal before meeting with our king. Even though they've been subjugated, the guards still speak in the name of Blauwald kingdom instead of the Ocilon empire, which must be their pride.

  Well I don't say no to a good meal, Baldric says.

  After a longer than expected walk they make it to the main hall where a castle maiden directs them to one of the many, many dining rooms. This one is on the 8th floor and has a beautiful view over the entire city. A wooden lift powered by horses saves them the hassle of walking all those stairs. Princess von Blauwald specifically requested you to meet her in her private dining room. They walk inside and there's a long table with many delicious exotic foods on it. At the head of the table is presumably the princess von Blauwald, surrounded by 2 guards in even more impressively decorated armour. The princess rests her head on her arm but perks up when she sees them enter the room. She wipes some imaginary dust of her lap then stands up to greet them.a good feast, Baldric says, already watering at the thought of a delicious warm meal.

  Welcome to the Blauwald castle! My name is Alina Ayla Tristana von Blauwald, the eldest and only heir of the Blauwald family. But please call me Alina. Please have a seat and eat our food, we had it specifically prepared for you. So what is it like traveling the Cavas region?

  Well it's quite dangerous, Kilian starts, we almost got robbed, and you have to constantly be aware of attracting bears and such since we have to carry a lot of dried food with us. And on our boat trip in freezing temperatures, Baldric here got seasick. If we didn't run into Foley, our guide, I don't know if we would've made it here in one piece.

  Wow, really? Sounds exciting. My dad never lets me leave this stupid castle. I have to sit inside and read boring books all day and practise etiquette. We rarely even get any guests anymore since he's been subjugated. He's so unimportant and irrelevant these days. Did you try any special fruits along the way?

  No.. not really. But we have frost berries from Frostpoint with us, here you can try some. Baldric give her some of those.

  Sorry I ate the last of them on the way over here, he says, whilst stuffing himself with the various fruit filled pastries on his side of the table.

  Oh that sucks. Well we'll save you some next time.

  The princess looks a little disappointed.

  Kilian takes one of the slices of meat from a platter, he has no idea what it is, but it looks delicious.

  This food more than makes up for the 2 weeks of horrible conditions they travelled in.

  Two royal guards enter and start to play their trumpets briefly. Please stand up for our royal highness, who will now enter thee presence, one of them speaks. They all stand up except Alina, who sighs and starts tapping her fingers on the thrones' wooden armrests in her impatience.

  You are dismissed my guards. The king walks in, he's a chubby and tall man, wearing a large red cape with golden trimmings. For a king he has a rather friendly looking face, the type of face you'd find on an overweight baker who is a little bit too fond of his own creations yet all too pleased to share them with his customers. Most kings are rather stern or more mean looking, I always thought it was a requirement of such an important position, having to balance many powers and making many enemies, one has to have a certain outward appearance.

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  Alina, what are you doing, this is supposed to be my seat, the king sits at the head of the table.

  But you always sit at the head of the table, this is MY dining room so I get to sit at the throne. The guards nervously look away. This isn't the first time it's happened.

  But Alina, this isn't proper etiquette. No dad, you said this is my room, I get to sit where I want, or is this your room after all?

  Come on Alina, you're making this more difficult than necessary, our guests are waiting. He starts pulling on his daughter's arm.

  You never let me have anything, first this was my room and now you want the throne seat, this is unfair! She pushes a bottle of wine off the table so it shatters and spills.

  Alina! How could you do this, that's my favourite wine!

  But you lied to me!

  Alright alright, I'll sit over here. Does that make you happy?

  The king places himself next to his daughter on one of the guests' seats, which looks rather silly since his large posture doesn't really fit on a normal chair. The chairs legs are visibly bending and under a lot of stress. If this chair had a consciousness it would surely want to kill itself right now. The king nervously looks around the table to see if anyone was looking, but they all quickly look away and pretend as if they somehow didn't notice the previous argument. Then he breaks of a leg of the large roasted foal in front of him and takes a bite. He turns to Kilian, and starts talking with his mouth stuffed with food.

  Anyway, my apologies about that. Thank you for coming all the way to Hazzlefrust, I hope you enjoy our pastries, it's a local speciality. But let's address the real reason you came here. Of course sire, Kilian hands over the scroll.

  The king starts reading it whilst eating, nothing is important enough to interrupt his meal. Hmm. I see, I see. This is not good news. The Northern alliance is requesting shipments of anti magic materials. The Ocilon empire has indeed started mining pyrite and they've been tending forests of trees with anti-magical properties but still, this is in its early stages.

  Dad, nobody wants to hear your boring logistics talks! Let them talk about their travels!

  The king looks around nervously, my apologies, I will spare you the details. Anyway we will honor their request. You don't need to go back to deliver a return message, the first ships will arrive in a couple of weeks, you can travel with those.

  Although I may have another mission for you, are you related to the Tanholt family by any chance?

  Yes indeed, I have an older brother, Kilian says.

  I knew it, you have the same face as your brother. The king smiles.

  I asked your brother to perform a recon mission on the way to the city of Sassafreud in the former Serpenius empire, the Ocilon empire requested me to keep an eye out on the state of affairs surrounding the bottled sea and its islands, many of which are still technically neutral. But he stopped sending back messages. Now I do not fear the worst has happened, delivery of messages is notoriously unreliable by airmail around those areas, but still, it's been several months since his last update. I can give you a map with the route he was supposed to take and you should be able to track him down.

  Kilian isn't worried, it is normal for scouts to disappear for longer periods of time and he knows his brother can hold his own. It will be interesting to trace his footsteps and explore the southern areas, he sees it as an adventure.

  Sure we'd love to go, right Baldric and Foley?

  Foley didn't really sign up for any of this but still, an adventure with all expenses paid for sounds way more fun than just going back to the Cavas mountains and living on whatever they can steal from those unfortunate enough to run into him and his crew.

  Sure, I'll join. An expert archer could be of great benefit on your journey.

  Dad, I want to travel with them. I hate this stupid castle. It will be good for my development.

  Alina, you couldn't possibly go with them. It is far too dangerous, and you're the only heir, you need to attend your royal duties.

  I don't like it here! If you don't let me go I'll never speak to you again.

  Alina.. how could you say such a thing. The king's eyes are visibly teary. He seems to be easily manipulated by his daughter, being kind of a pushover. Even though he's a king, he's also just like any father, having a soft spot for his daughter.

  I don't know if traveling is all that fun for a princess, it's dirty and the food is pretty bad. We sleep in tents, in the cold and rain, you wouldn't like it. Kilian says, not looking forward to babysitting a spoiled child. Besides he really isn't that experienced himself, there's no way he could guarantee her safety.

  I don't care, anything is better than staying here!

  At least sleep a night on it, this is a big decision, you can't easily go back if you don't like it. Maybe try a diplomatic trip through the western kingdoms first? You get to stay in nice mansions and the roads are safer with many inns. You wouldn't have to sleep in the wilderness.

  But that's boring! And I don't like diplomatic trips, it's so formal and direct. I want to go on an adventure. Plus I can take care of myself. I've been studying Light magic for 7 years, I could heal you guys if we get in trouble.

  So far we had been relying on potions but of course a healer would be nice, they cure wounds way faster. Still, a princess like this would probably break the moment they first encounter hardships. She's lived her whole life with a silver spoon on a gold embroidered pillow.

  The following day after a good night's rest in the castle's guest rooms they are at the front gates preparing their leave.

  The king has tears in his eyes, take good care of my daughter, son. I know she can be a bit difficult at times but she's very delicate. Here take this sack of gold, use it to rent the finest inn rooms and take these seals as well, if you ever find yourself in trouble you can give them these and they can be exchanged in my kingdom for a hefty sum of money. And be sure to write my letters every week about how my daughter is doing, if you need anything I'll instantly send a royal party to attend to your needs. Stay safe! She's my only daughter. It'll be so quiet around here without her around. He wipes the tears from his eyes. Don't tell her I gave you this, she'd get upset with me. The party leaves and makes their way east, traversing the southern parts of the Cavas region safely thanks to Foley's helpful guidance, before heading south along the western coastline of the bottled sea. This is a no-mans land at the edges of the Arcana empire.