No Need for a Core?

Once her friends caught up with her, Kazue spent the rest of the afternoon with them in the library, taking some time to pull Gako and Tia aside to thank them for their thoughtfulness in trying to include her in their forming group, then gave each of them a ‘thank you’ kiss, which was the sort of kiss she’d been making sure Mordecai and Moriko were OK with as a one-time event.

After that, she escorted them through the fifth floor where the cavern had been opened up and laganthros were designing and laying out ideas for mushroom-based buildings. Most of the group loved the idea, though one of them had to admit she was a little put off by mushrooms and other fungi. Still, they all had their own ideas for quests and challenges, and Kazue was happy to note them all down.

By the time they got to the central room, the other group was long since occupied, so the party that followed involved seven young kitsune women entertaining themselves by harmlessly flirting with one ancient dungeon core. Wise and experienced he might be, but Mordecai was at a disadvantage here and gracefully conceded to any defeats in the verbal sparring. The flirting only went so far of course, and Kazue was the only one allowed to seat herself in his lap, but all were entertained until it was time to get the now thoroughly inebriated shrine maidens off to their room for the night.

The two cores then spent the rest of the night and well into the next morning finishing up their plans for the fifth floor. When their guests had all recovered and had a chance to eat, they were presented with their prizes, starting with all of them being presented with the now standard reward of the enchanted honey potions.

The shrine maidens had already collected some herbs, a few pretty but low-value gems, and various scrolls as well as a starter spellbook that had been thoroughly claimed. For the group as a whole Kazue presented shrine maiden outfits embroidered with themes of dragons, foxes, and rabbits, and enchanted with some simple comfort and mild environmental protection enchantments. These would be gifted to all Azeria clan shrine maidens who made it through the dungeon, though that was going to be a more difficult task over time. They were also granted some individual items: an internally expanded bag, a hat that can alter one’s appearance through illusions, a cloak that would help one blend into shadows if they were trying to hide, boots to make one more agile and give an occasional burst of speed, and a scarf enchanted to enhance dance performances with minor illusions. The one who had her shiny spellbook already had a special gift of her own.

For the warrior party Mordecai started with the shield maidens, gifting them with reinforced shields backed by runes to increase their sturdiness. Their old shields had been rather badly damaged in the earlier fights, and they had already picked up some cold iron and silvered swords on the third floor. The spear maiden was presented with a longspear made of rowan and tipped with a mithral head. The rune it bore would allow it to pierce even creatures not entirely on this plane, This mostly meant undead of various sorts, but there were other sorts of phantasmal creatures that had limited physical presence.

The huntress accepted the gift of a long-barreled gun after trying it out. Mordecai had modified the design of the pistol for a longer gun, based on descriptions and a little bit of experimentation, though he wasn’t sure if this was similar to the ‘muskets’ others had discussed. It couldn’t fire as fast as her bow and it had some other trade-offs that would make it a situational weapon for her, but new options were always good.

The mage was happy with her collection of scrolls and was intending to copy them to her spellbook when she had a chance, so the final presentation was a staff for the priest. While not quite as enthusiastic a number as what Kazue’s mother had gotten, it gave him an additional selection of healing and curative spells at his command each day.

Once everyone had said their goodbyes and departed, the two of them turned their attention back toward Moriko, who was getting ready for her royal dinner.

Moriko was feeling much better than she had the other day when she first went to visit Mistress Ula. The visit with the princesses had helped allay her fears about the court, though they had let her know that court could be that bad, which was part of the point of having her come to a private dinner first, to establish that Moriko did have allies. No matter how noble the ancestry or enlightened a nobility, there was always someone who craved more power and felt threatened by newcomers.

Those who had risen to a basic lordship by being Marked were more insulated both by the nature of the favor they bore and by the fact that they tended to not be very political. Moriko was a more complicated situation, and thus inherently political if for no other reason than someone would insist on seeing her that way.

But that wasn’t anything she was going to have to deal with tonight. So for the moment, she focused on getting ready, which included posing and moving under Ula’s directions once more as the woman made sure the dress fit properly.

Moriko had thought that the dress was what was going to make her most self-conscious this evening. She hadn’t accounted for the foundational garments that the princesses had insisted upon. It wasn’t like they were going to check or anything, but Moriko was convinced they would somehow know if she didn’t follow instructions in this matter. A fancy dress required that every layer be just as special.

And it wasn’t like Moriko wore dowdy undergarments or anything, but these felt like being naked would actually be more modest. And knowing how to pick such items out was not a skill she had expected of proper princesses. Though a couple of them were married…

Well, she’d at least be able to put them to good use when she got home. The thought made her smirk, partly because of the realization that the default of ‘home’ really had shifted in her head. It was nice, and that was a thought she shared with her husband and wife as she felt their presences focus on her. They were always in the back of her mind somewhere, but it was nice feeling them pay more attention to her. “Guests are gone I take it?”

The affirmation came with some images showing Moriko all the prizes that had been won, and she couldn’t help but smile more at Kazue’s excitement. Ula eyed her then snorted. “If I didn’t already know you were a newlywed, that smile would give it away. I can’t decide if the ability to hear a man’s thoughts would be more of a blessing or a curse, but you sure seem happy about it.”

Moriko found herself blushing, which caught her off guard. How did these women make her feel so damn young? It was like she was a teenager again. Mordecai whispered into her mind “That’s called being in love dear.”

To be fair, she hadn’t been actually in love before, however much she loved many of the people in her life. Still, she felt that his reply deserved a toothless mental growl, then she turned her attention back to getting ready. There wasn’t much to do at this point really, but it was hard not to fuss. At least some of her accessories could double as fidgets. Carrying a handbag was weird though.

Finally, the carriage arrived to take her off to the castle, and she got to sit back and take in the view of the city center. The center of the city was built upon a large, gradual hill, topped by the royal castle. Surrounding that were various other estates, some of them belonging to the royal family, some to other nobility.

It was here that the mix of various styles of architecture was thrown into starkest contrast. With what she now knew, it was clear that there was technically a ‘native’ style and an ‘introduced’ style. The history from before Kuiccihan had been founded had always been a little vague, but that two or more cultures had been thrown together was clear, no doubt the result of the heroes and armies that had responded to the emergency resulting from Mordecai’s actions. And the center of the city had been built when things were less harmonious, recovering from a thousand years of nothing bigger than a city-state being stable.

It was a somewhat depressing image, but also hopeful. They’d managed to come together eventually after all. She dwelled on those thoughts until the carriage finally reached the entrance she’d be using before being brought to the main hall. The Seneschal and a couple of maids still had to decorate her properly with the royal jewelry that had been selected for her.

This brought up a piece of advice that had come from Mordecai, not the princesses, and Moriko could see why they didn’t mention it. She should make sure to verbally appreciate all of the jewelry, but praise the piece that she liked the most a little more. As a first-time diplomatic guest in good favor, there was a strong chance that the king and queen would choose to gift her with one piece of what she was currently being bedecked with. Of course, choosing a single item was going to be difficult, they were all dazzling, and she was somewhat reluctant to accept any gift of that sort, they all had to be expensive and have some history associated with them. She didn’t need any guidance to tell her that while initial resistance was expected, she wasn’t actually supposed to refuse.

When the seneschal was satisfied, she was escorted to the entrance of the main hall, where she was to wait a moment to be properly introduced.