Kazue could feel the presence of other beings entering their domain, but it was far less distinct and exact than her dungeon senses. With a bit of concentration, she could pick out an individual or group and tell where they were and get a feel for their auras, but she couldn't really see that spot or distinguish details. Plus it took up her avatar's concentration to do that, not her core's focus. She could pull her core's focus to this side if she really needed to, but then her other self would not be focusing on the mortal world.

That reminded her, had she had her medicine this morning? Kazue asked her core to be sure and was relieved when she told herself that she had. It was a little irritating to tell that her other self was amused, but at least that amusement came with a bit of self-depreciation. After all, this had always been part of Kazue's life, even if she hadn't known it before. A quick pat of her pocket verified that she had more doses with her; Kazue anticipated that this was going to be a very long day.

After that moment of self-induced panic, there was little for her to do but wait for the first of their visitors to trickle in. The first to reach them were the smaller fae folk such as brownies, leprechauns, bluecaps, and pixies before some of the taller folk like satyrs, fossegrim, field spirits, and nymphs arrived. These first waves came as guests bearing small gifts, tokens of acknowledgment from their lords and ladies. The Azeria Court was not yet established enough for most nobility to arrive in person or for the court to otherwise be treated lavishly, but with these token gifts, the nearby courts were ensuring that they at least did not slight Azeria unnecessarily.

Normally, accepting a gift from the fey was dangerous as it could create an obligation, but that was, in part, what the feast was for. The gifts were accepted with graciousness and their guests were given a large jug of honey before they were officially invited to enjoy the offered feast. Generally, only one representative from each group approached the dais while the rest waited off to the side, which helped keep the line shorter. The representative would then leave the open pavilion to the side where their group waited, allowing the next person to step forward.

This balanced out the offered gifts and established guest and host obligations and rights. With this they passed two tests; first, if they understood basic protocol well enough to not be caught in a trap of obligations and second, to see how they would treat less powerful fey. The Azeria court was very much a new and unknown player, feeling them out was important.

The obligations of Hosts and Guests were part of what kept everything so orderly. Every fey being here knew that to touch the feast before being invited to do so would create an obligation to the Azeria Court akin to that of accepting an unrequited gift, nor would that debt be balanced by being considered guests afterward.

Of course, even the fey folk had their blind spots. Living Dungeons were creatures of the mortal world, physical entities bound to hard crystal and not inclined toward the same sort of whimsy that fey folk often were. For a dungeon, there was always work to be done and business to do, even when they indulged themselves in a little bit of relaxation. Those fey folk inclined toward diligent work were very focused, such as hobs with housework or bluecaps with mining, and generally did not diversify their interests. As such, they had little understanding of how valuable some of these unique items could be to a living dungeon.

A drop of morning dew harvested from the top of a tall tree while touched by both moonlight and sunlight. The sound of a baby's first laugh. A living leaf from a world tree, freely given. A maiden's first kiss. A bit of luck. The last breath of a good king. A dead man's shadow. A dollop of true innocence. The sound of silence. A golem's dream captured in the form of a lightning ram. A box of spider whispers. A spool of starlight thread. And so much more.

She'd be happier without some of the creepier ones, but they all held great potential value. Many of these things were the building blocks of powerful rituals and enchantments and while the dungeon would never be able to duplicate the more esoteric ones in a way that would allow them to give them as prizes, they had learned the patterns.

Those patterns could be used and reused indefinitely for the dungeon's purposes, providing an effectively unlimited supply when it came to building other things from them.

Then there was the leaf. As far as Kazue was concerned, it was a far more precious gift than all the rest. This one the dungeon couldn't even indirectly copy, nor could they evolve other plants to become like it. They would have one chance to do something with it.

Part of her wanted to use it like a cutting and grow it in a special garden she could create near their core, a space that would grow as the dungeon grew and travel with the rooms near the core. But in the end that felt too confining for a being like this, and both of her spouses agreed.

Instead, she had it taken to one of their druids who made a special mixture of earth for it, along with an enchanted pot. These were taken to their chambers high up in the crystal tree and for the moment placed in a brand new room; a small sunroom that would act as a greenhouse until the spring. That would be when they made their final decision.

After these initial guests came petitioners, some of whom had also borne gifts on behalf of others. The Azeria Court was small and new, but that meant that there was room for opportunity. Many of these were young fey folk seeking to find a new place for themselves. A handful of those were from minor nobility who wished to become established and senior members of a new court rather than be forever a small actor of a larger court. They were bid to wait for now and enjoy the feast, as the three royals of the new court wished to interview them in greater detail and did not want other guests to have to wait.

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Some simply wished to leave Faerie and venture to the mortal realm. These too were asked to wait, though for a different cause. The dungeon already had a plan to establish a permanent gateway so there was no need to rush nor to create individual passages. There were still prices to be paid to keep debts balanced, but that could be dealt with as a group.

Then there were the mortals. They were few, but they felt unfairly trapped into bargains of servitude, unable to leave Faerie and bound to always return to their master or mistress when called upon and perform their agreed-upon service. Mordecai dealt with these. For a few, as part of his duties as a high priest of Ozuran, he was able to break their contracts.

Others were deemed to have been willfully ignorant or blind to the cost rather than tricked, so their contracts were not broken by divine power. Still, there was a way out; to exchange one service for another. They would have to agree to serve Azeria instead, and Azeria would then need to work out a price for buying their contract from their master or mistress. These too would need to wait, with a temporary hold on the obligations of their fae contracts, as they would need to be both interviewed and have their contract purchases negotiated.

Interspersed amongst these common groupings were a few individuals that stood out. The first problematic petitioner was Queen Sylphine's seneschal, Lord Silvander. He was the one who had gifted them the leaf from the world tree, though that was not enough to get any of them to be other than wary of him. What he said after the initial formalities and exchanges proved that wariness was correct. "Princess Elara, your mother, Queen Sylphine, has instructed me to insist that you return home."

Kazue scowled at him and could feel Moriko's temper flaring as well. Even Fuyuko was feeling protective of her adoptive sister. But Mordecai and Carmilla's reactions were different. "Relax, let her handle this one. It's faerie games," Mordecai said across their link. A closer look at Lord Silvander made it apparent that he did not seem particularly eager or happy to have delivered this message.

As for Carmilla, she gave off a predatory air as she rose from her seat and gave the seneschal a vicious smile. "You seem to have mistaken me, Lord Silvander. I am Princess Carmilla of Azeria." That she could phrase it that way was telling, for a faerie could not lie. Technically, she was both, but right now she was acting as Carmilla and thus using her other identity was inappropriate at best. "Now," Carmilla said as she slowly walked forward and down the dais, Udup on her shoulder. "Let us cut this dance short, for I know my King and Queens do not care for these matters much. You have been ordered to insist, but she has not said she insists. So this begins and ends with you, correct?"

"Yes, Your Highness," Silvander replied with a sort of resigned amusement.

"Then I choose to answer your insistence with my own. If you would meet with Princess Elara, you must first prove yourself against Princess Carmilla." She paused and glanced back to the thrones before asking, "With my parents' permission, of course? We would not want to cause any issues between guest and host."

Kazue's breath caught for a moment. Carmilla had never even hinted at calling them parents before. Even now, it was part of a more formal statement rather than a personal one, and Kazue was not under the illusion that she thought of them as parents the same way Fuyuko was starting to. But still, it felt nice. "A moment, please," she said and then conferred silently with her husband and wife. Mordecai had seen this coming and was fine with it. Moriko had not seen it coming, but now that she did know the situation, she was fine with it so long as Carmilla was willing to play this game. Otherwise, she was willing to beat down the seneschal herself.

Ritual violence did seem to be the only way forward here, at least, without worse repercussions. Kazue was reluctant simply because she did not care for it, but she acknowledged that it was Carmilla's right to defend her status and identity. "Very well, we have discussed it and see no issue with Lord Silvander's challenge nor Princess Carmilla's response. Neither of you has cause to seek the other's death, so I insist that once a victor is clear, the loser will yield graciously." That last condition she had the right and power to make an order in this instance, and so she did, binding them both to that obligation. If they were going to play stupid faerie games, then she would use the rules to her advantage.

"Come then," Carmilla said, "we need a venue where the other guests will not be disturbed, yet those who wish to watch can be entertained. I know just the place." Even at her full size, Carmilla's wings were not just for show. She leapt into the air as she manifested them and flew upward until she alighted upon the framework of crystal and mycelium where the Earth Zone would be in the mortal realm. "Now, do take care Lord Silvander. It would be quite rude to harm my friend here. You do have the skill to spar with spell and blade without damaging your surroundings, yes?"

That was an interesting choice. It would certainly make it harder to overwhelm her with raw power, and such a tricky challenge was considered part of a faerie's strength. Silvander's reputation would be tarnished if he considered himself less capable than her. If he was to prove himself strong enough to force Princess Elara home, then he must do so under the presented conditions, given that the conditions applied to both of them fairly.

Nor would this fight simply become an aerial fight, most larger faeries needed to expend noticeable effort to maintain flight. They might take to the air briefly to take an advantage or avoid a disadvantage, but extended flight during a fight was unlikely.

So the Faerie Lord followed suit and landed a reasonable distance away. "I do not think your pet should be with you for this, Princess," he said as he drew a slender blade of moon-touched mithral.

"There is no pet with me," Carmilla replied as she drew a matching blade of her own. Kazue blinked. When and where did Carmilla get that? Then she realized that the two blades were of nigh identical make. She must have been able to conceal it when she hid the rest of herself as a sprite spark.

Carmilla took up a graceful fencer's pose and Udup moved to sit on her free hand, gripping her wrist firmly. "This," she continued, "is Udup, and he is my familiar. A familiar and their master fight as one."

Silvander's eyes narrowed at this revelation and he examined her more closely. "Your aura is touched by a patron's power now. You've become a witch. Who is your patron?"

In reply, Carmilla simply gestured at the pavilion below with her blade.

"I see," he replied and then nodded. "Very well then, if this is part of who Princess Carmilla is. When this coin touches the ground below, we begin." A disk of true faerie gold was flicked into the air, shining brightly as it tumbled toward the ground.