This city square is named Sinem square, named after the Baron’s great grandmother, Baroness Sinem Tritol. As soon as one enters the square, they feel an immediate change in the air.
The temperature within the square grounds is perfectly controlled. No wind blows within the square. The air is still, up to twenty meters above the floor. Whether it is winter, spring, summer or fall on Omicron, there’s no precipitation here. The sun’s heat will not annoy anyone here.
Of course, generally it is not open to the public.
This splendid environment is all thanks to the court magicians of Tritol. These mages are mostly from the Tritol family’s branches. Each branch scion, though not in the line of succession, possesses considerable magical ability.
After all, they are all the descendants of the first hero of Tritol.
The square itself has standing room for almost 30 000 people. Only human commoners can attend these formal announcement ceremonies. The guards will guide any human wishing to attend to a specific area in the square.
Tritol branch nobles and nobles from other regions are always given front row access. The wealthier and higher status commoners are behind these nobles. The middle and working class commoners always remain behind both groups. Poor commoners are unlikely to attend. When they do, the guards are quick to make excuses to get them to leave.
There are over 500 guards watching the perimeter, with 200 more undercover among the crowd. Normally, it would be around 200 in total for these ceremonies.
This elevated guard presence is because the force faced humiliation recently. There were a series of burglaries in a gated community within the city. A lot of the private security guards for that neighborhood were actually former and current city guards moonlighting there.
The neighborhood and city reamed the guards force for their incompetence that night. The wealthy commoners are starting to lose faith in them.
Appearing more forcefully at various city events is one way they’re pushing back against that embarrassment. Especially since they don’t have any leads on possible culprits. If this continues, they’ll have to find a scapegoat.
Sinem square is bordered by a number of massive, monolithic skyscrapers. To Ajax and Shaula, the buildings are as tall as Mega trees. Unlike the pale white tree trunks and blue leaves, these buildings are mostly dark blue. The glass windows make the buildings sparkle in the afternoon sun.
Ajax and Shaula are among the crowd in the middle section of the square. They had already gone shopping in preparation for formal events. The guards seemed to escort them to this area because of their formal attire. Shaula is feeling very smug right now since she picked their clothes.
Ajax is wearing a single-breasted, blue long coat with a prominent, red collar. The mid-thigh length coat has two rows of silvery buttons. His pants are waist-high and white, very much like thick stockings. He is also wearing brown knee-high boots and beige mid-forearm gloves over his jacket sleeves.
Meanwhile, Shaula is wearing a bright purple, single-breasted jacket with a belt at her waist. A small pouch of silver and bronze coins is attached to this belt since her clothes have no pockets. The jacket extends to her knees. Its sleeves are long, thin at her shoulders and growing wider down her arms.
Her matching color dress pants are slightly wide at her ankles. She is also wearing black, closed-toe wedge pumps.
Both male and female fashion have developed significantly in this 10 000 year old nation. Although female fashion is purposely reserved, the styles remain quite creative.
As they wait, Ajax tries to isolate conversations within the massive crowd, using his hearing. He listens carefully for anything about the Baron and the Barony in general. Shaula watches the guards. She wishes to memorize the smell of their uniforms and armor.
She notices that two people walking through the crowd are carrying wrist cuffs in their pockets. These wrist cuffs appear to have the same smell as the ones the armored guards are carrying. Shaula isn’t certain, but it seems that some of the audience aren’t just normal audience members.
So, they’ve got some undercovers among the crowd as well. What’s with the security? Is it just because a noble’s appearing? Aren’t those already guys strong enough to protect themselves?
She remains ignorant to the fact that she and Ajax indirectly caused the increased security at this venue.
Shaula has learned a bit more about noble power. She knows that they’re all meant to be warrior rulers with amazing bloodlines. She feels like this level of security is overkill. But, it’s not like she’s ever been to a gathering held by an important person, even on Earth.
There is a wide, elevated stage at the front of the square. It seems that the nobles and other important representatives of this meeting will speak from there. The crowd starts to quiet down. Ajax and Shaula start to pay attention to the front. With their powerful eyes, they see a group of people walking up to the platform.
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Each of them has a snow-white veil on. Neither Ajax nor Shaula can tell their facial features or eye color. There are both men and women in the group.
After a certain point, the crowd becomes completely silent. Ajax notices people in the crowd who have their eyes closed, whispering to themselves. Not everyone in the crowd does this, but the ones who do seem to be praying.
The silence is interrupted by a very loud, very deep sound. It seems to be a tone made by an instrument. The tone seems to be coming from everywhere. Neither Ajax nor Shaula can find a source, so they assume it’s magic. Shaula notices that as soon as that deep tone appeared, everyone faced forward towards the stage without exception.
Even those who were praying stopped immediately to look forward. The two of them do the same.
They can see that there is a person moving up the stairs of the platform. He’s wearing what looks like a friar’s religious habit made of silk. The outfit is complexly engraved and light blue, with a rope-like belt at the waist. The habit extends to the ground, covering his feet.
Its hood is down and the man has no veil, so Ajax and Shaula can see his face.
He is clean shaven with medium length black hair. He appears middle aged, at least early forties, thin, and fit. His eyes are golden.
[So, that one is clearly a noble, right?] Ajax tries his whispering and Shaula can just barely hear him through the loud instrumental tone.
[Yeah, gotta be.]
[Do you think there’s anything different about him, Shaula? Other than the eyes I mean.]
[He just looks like any other guy… But, I don’t think he’s showing any of his strength. Look…]
The golden eyed noble takes his place on stage, right of center, and after that, another man appears. He was behind the platform like the rest of the people currently onstage. But, his appearance was sudden yet graceful unlike the rest.
To the average audience member, he must have seemed to appear from thin air. Ajax and Shaula were able to see through this however. This newcomer is who they assume to be the last person to take their place. The leader of today’s proceedings. The Baron.
He is wearing a white cloak that extends to his feet. His cloak has long wide sleeves that hide his hands. His feet are covered in beautiful, golden shoes. Ajax can see a lot of complex engravings on the pair. The man is also wearing a translucent veil, but his purple eyes and long, slightly curly, dark brown hair are visible.
This nobleman doesn’t walk up to the platform. He is levitating right now. There are three pairs of translucent, crystal wings floating around his back. At his right is a hovering bo staff. He appears downright angelic.
Several people in the crowd solemnly bow their heads. Others do so happily.
[…Wow.]
[He’s very impressive. He has to be…]
[The Baron. I can’t imagine anyone else would be allowed to be the center of attention today. He’s quite the proud person, Shaula.]
[A bit vain, honestly…]
The Baron, Liri Tritol, floats onto the platform, front and center. The deep instrumental tone stops as soon as he reaches his spot and remains still. He speaks, his voice loud and clear throughout the entire square.
“Osva, supreme one, Lord and master of humanity. Your word is truth, your actions are reality, and your grace has fallen upon me, your servant, Baron of this city, Liri Tritol. Today…”
Ajax and Shaula wait while the Baron recites his prayer. The words aren’t very specific to today in particular. Perhaps this is the prayer spoken at every one of these announcement ceremonies. After the Baron’s prayer, the man in the blue religious habit is introduced by him as the Bishop of Tritol.
The Bishop declares himself as witness to the Baron’s prayer and exaltation. He also calls himself a servant of Osva, as well as one of Osva’s heralds. He then delivers his own solemn, worshipful prayer. He is almost as charismatic as the Baron even while exuding far less gravitas.
Servant of Osva. Perhaps this is how the nobles declare themselves. They are Osva’s servants, while the commoners are Osva’s subjects. The Baron appears angelic. This nation could have conceived of the servants of God being winged angels just like certain Earth religions. But, the Bishop isn’t appearing like the Baron.
He is a herald as well as a servant. A herald is like a messenger, so it could refer to the Bishop title. Angels in Earthly religions were also called heralds of God. The Bishop is a representative of Osva, his herald. He wasn’t even named, as if he is only Osva’s representative in this venue.
Shouldn’t he be the angel? Ajax feels some confusion about the way this ceremony has gone so far. He shakes off these thoughts since his preconceptions from Earth just can’t be applied here.
After the prayer, the Bishop raises his hands towards the announcement ceremony crowd. His hands glow in bright white light for a few seconds. This white light lands softly upon the people. It spreads like a cloud, starting from the front and moving slowly to the back.
Everyone who receives the light upon them starts to smile. A few of them tremble. Others cry softly. This is a special magic that the Bishop has learned. It’s a healing spell that directly stimulates some hormones while dampening others. This lets everyone the light touches feel religious fervor.
With this, the audience members will become more receptive to the Baron’s words, the good news. The nobles and high status commoners have protection against this mental interference. The rest of the audience do not. This is one of the reasons why human commoners hold fast to Osva. Everyone can be made to feel the spirit of God.
It doesn’t affect Ajax or Shaula. But, from how the audience is reacting, they have some idea of what effect this bright cloud spell has. It seems like a brainwashing treatment to them. They’re not wrong. However, the effects wear off within an hour, so most commoners don’t think of it in those terms.
“Receive this wonderful news, people of Tritol.”
With those words, the Bishop returns to his original position and the Baron floats forward once again. He begins very simply.
“Rejoice, my people! The war is over! Our Lord Osva is victorious!”
Instantly, cheers resound.