A Procession for a Princess

Some months ago, Iqtadar Sesel received a petition from the Mnor Klackons who make up a portion of the population of his iqta': in short, we demand a princess for ourselves, so that we may be fruitful and multiply--and if you do not, we will seize one!

Here are the arguments with which they put forth their petition, in short (not being the full presentation, but rumors of what was argued to Sesel):

• We are no longer outcasts and dregs barely surviving at the edge of society, but are now organized in the service of a Spire (i.e. Sesel's tower)

• We have provided good service to this Spire in helping to build its infrastructure and maintain its fields (however strange it is to eat the produce of the land, rather than eating the fungal fruits of the fruits of the land)

• We assist in the common defense of this Spire

• Yet we are left bereft, incapable of maintaining our population in service to this Spire! This injustice is injurious, both to ourselves and our lineage which is denied, as well as to the Spire itself, and to the City of which the Spire is only a part, like to a drone being part of the body politic of a Spire

• Therefore, we petition our Ersatz-Princess Sesel to acquire for us a true breeding princess, wherewith to begin replenishing our numbers and the health of our body politic

Hearing these arguments from the subjects dwelling on his iqta', Sesel ultimately ventured directly to the Attine Spire and requested an audience with the princess of the Fifth House (with whom he and others have had the most communication, during the affairs of the cleansing of the Sixth House).

Though many were aghast to hear of the possible intermixing of one of the blood of the Fifth House to intermix with Mnor outcasts, the translator Txach'achit warmed to Sesel's arguments for the mutual benefit of such an agreement and argued eloquently on behalf of his friend's request to his princess--and she, after much hedging and uncertainty, finally acquiesced to allow a junior cousin of her line to be taken by Sesel as a princess for his Mnor.

But not merely taken, of course--as is only proper, there must be a grand procession for such a union!

So, in order to effect this union, Sesel must organize the procession for his Mnor Klackons (and/or other subjects) to receive this princess into their company at the Attine Spire and then transmit her to his iqta', in a representation of a kind of faux-raptio (abduction), which the Attine Klackons observe as a ritual remembrance of their past as many separate spires having to abduct princesses from each other.

Sesel must, in addition to picking the date*:

1. Spend a minimum of 1000 dinars on trappings for this procession (and may earn xp equal to the gold spent above this minimum, to a max of 100 times his level)
2. Spend a minimum of 2500 dinars on a feast for the bride's reception to her new "Spire" (the iqta') (and may earn xp equal to the gold spent above this minimum, to a max of 100 times his level)
3. Describe the procession in a write-up to be posted to this chronicle. Necessary trappings are:
1. a suitable gift for the princess (300-1800 dinars would be suitable; if Sesel spends in excess of 1800, he may earn extra xp as above)
2. fungal lightbearers to lead the way
3. armed guards for the protection of the princess (pay a special wage for the procession, i.e. a full month's pay for mercenaries per the table from the book; pay humans as normal, but pay for any Klackons, e.g. the Mnor, as if they are Elves--and once again, any money spent here will earn Sesel xp up to 100 times his level)
4. optionally, if Sesel invites leveled friends, he may pay them as special guards at 100 gold per level, and earn xp equal to that for each one involved)

*a note on the date--it would be considered bad form in Cothon-Gadeed to pick the week ending 27 January for this procession, as that is the week of Stillest Night when it's evil luck to start anything new

The guards may seem at first blush to be ceremonial, and they certainly are--but let it be noted that they may also be necessary, as they once were. One mere fact is that a procession overland from the Spire to the iqta' has the chance of running into some dangerous beast from which the princess will need to be protected. More realistically, however, there are definitely interests against the union of a Fifth House princess to a colony of outcast Mnor. It may be that such ill feeling toward this union could instigate a counter-raptio, in which Klackons from the Spire would rush forth to attempt to seize the princess and return her to the Fifth House--a coup which would no doubt end any possibility of such a union being successful in the future.

So the guards may be necessary as they were in the old ritual, as insurance against a counter-raid against the procession. It's up to Sesel to determine how seriously he wishes to take this concern--and therefore how many guards to hire and how well to arm them.

This will be a downtime action taken by Sesel (or by Zaida if he can convince her with a 7+ on two dice). Anyone else involved does not need to spend a downtime to participate, as they're not really planning anything, just taking a day out for a procession and feast.