Magna City Congressional Roundtable

[Jackie Cat]

The room is dominated by a mahogany table, not circular so much as a ring or 'halo', large enough to seat a few dozen 'mon of moderate size. Pillars hold the high ceiling aloft, with a seating gallery at the midpoint for larger gatherings or ones requiring an audience. A lectern in the centre of the ring provides a spot for a speaker to address the entire assembly from a central point. A ceremonial lantern hangs from it, its bronze dappled with shining spots where speakers have touched it.

 

[Inkedust]

Bellatrix followed the hypno closely, she bore an undescribable expression at his enthusiasm. She forced herself to break the hurried silence by probing more about what Arthur had been discussing prior.

"So I gather that the Covenant has been studying Radiance for quite some time now," she stated. "I will gladly share what I know about the power but just so I'm not telling you anyway you already know, do tell me about your own findings, from the baseline to any recent developments."

She found herself a position at the roundtable and sat down, neatly placing her paws one on top of the other. She watched Arthur expectantly as she waited for this 'roundtable' to start. Although she already had a good guess as to what this meeting would discuss.

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

Steven found himself having to hustle to keep up with their new acquaintance, who was more spry than his appearance belied. It seemed as if Arthur's enthusiasm for Radiance was matched only by his excitement for this roundtable discussion. When they entered the chamber, Steven had an inkling as to why. Mildly, he wondered if Arthur was going to do more speaking than listening...

At first, Steven hovered at the edge of the chamber, hesitant to claim a spot at the table. But Bellatrix seemed less than concerned about such things. Following her lead, Steven selected a chair next to her and slid it back-- an offer to Odette-- before nudging the adjacent seat aside to make space for himself.

Apparently, Arthur's excitement meant they were the first ones to arrive. Rather than ask more questions, though, Steven opted for patience. According to the schedule, they'd have answers about what kind of forum this was soon enough.

 

[Sinderella]

Odette blinked after Arthur, her mind running wild with possible reads on him. He didn't give any indication he was being insincere, nor did his eagerness set off any alarm bells in her head. For all intents and purposes, he did just appear to be a jolly Covenant member who just wanted to talk about Radiance. However, being immediately offered a seat at the roundtable was partially shocking--he'd never met any of the Wayfarers, so how did he know none of the three of them were walking menaces to society? And he just willingly invited them into a meeting without thinking twice about it. Eager, jolly, and maybe a little naive due to a scorching level of excitement? Perhaps too early to tell. She sure as shit wasn't going to turn down the offer, though.

"If it's alright with you," she finally managed a word upon making it to the hold. She moved to grab her own seat near Bellatrix, but practically beamed when Steven pulled a chair out for her instead. What a fucking gentleman! Christ! "However, I wouldn't mind knowing who else will be in attendance, just so I can prepare myself a little," she said as she sat.

 

[Inkedust]

"Lucky for you, it seems that you'll get one of your answers right away," said a voice in reply to Odette's query.

From behind the corner, a scizor dressed in fine blue fabrics and generously decorated in golden jewelry walked into view. Her metal was polished to a bright, crimson sheen, allowing her to sparkle in the lantern light. "Wayfarers, are you? An honour. I've been looking forwards to this meeting since the day I heard about you." She bowed and took a seat on the opposite side of the roundtable. "Scizor Garnet," she introduced. "Proud member of the Covenant and bearer of Angel's blood in my veins. Have you three been enjoying the festivities? Not too shabby, you'd say?"

Bellatrix eyed her fellow Wayfarers before she turned to nod at the scizor. "Far from it," she replied. "You wouldn't mind us asking a couple questions before this meeting starts, would you?"

Garnet smiled. "Please, by all means."

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

Steven regarded the newcomer with a cordial smile, though he couldn't help stare just a bit in awe of the Scizor's pristine armor care. 'Probably not a battler,' he mused to himself. He could polish Aggron's armor all he liked, but there was no getting around the scuffs and gouges his partner wore with pride.

"Well met," he replied with a gentle inclination of his head, and the same introduction of his own name he'd offered Arthur.

Though, Something in Garnet's introduction gave him pause. 'Bearer of Angel's blood'? Steven tapped a claw to his chin. "So that would make you the descendant of a human? First generation, or...?" He trailed off, suddenly aware of what he was asking. He offered a polite and somewhat sheepish smile towards Garnet. "Forgive me, that might be a bit too personal of a question."

Eager to change the subject (and gloss over his potential faux pas) Steven tipped a claw towards the lobby they'd arrived from. "Wait, by festivities, do you mean that the live music out there, and the catering, is specifically for us?"

'Us' meaning the Wayfarers as a whole. The thought crept into his head, wondering how much of this was for show, and how much of it was the usual day-to-day activity at the Shining Congress. Had the Covenant gone to extra lengths to try and woo the Wayfarers with even more extravagance?

He remembered Arthur's words-- 'first of today's roundtables'-- and posed a follow-up question. "So then, are these meetings today on our account as well?"

 

[Jackie Cat]

"So I gather that the Covenant has been studying Radiance for quite some time now," she stated. "I will gladly share what I know about the power but just so I'm not telling you anything you already know, do tell me about your own findings, from the baseline to any recent developments."

"However, I wouldn't mind knowing who else will be in attendance, just so I can prepare myself a little," she said as she sat.

The Hypno chuckled magnanimously, and checked the pocketwatch again. "I think we might be a little early, we're expecting a few more just yet. (A couple of important ones, too, mm...) We'll do a quick round of introductions, of course! As for what is already known about Radiance, well, that's a subject worth a whole lecture, at least! I couldn't possibly relate the sum knowledge of the society in the time we have. We'll just play it by ear, shall we?"

He took the seat nearest him – there was no true 'head' of the table given its shape – and collapsed his cane. Then he selected a pair of horn-rimmed glasses from a pocket and put them on, muttering 'blast these eyes' as he did.

It seemed at least two more key members were yet to arrive. A Grovyle and a Decidueye exchanging hushed conversation had just walked in, but they hadn't attracted Arthur's attention – he must mean someone else. The Decidueye wore relatively little for a Covenant member – a black cloak with white patterning around the rim that looked in some way 'tribal' in design. The Grovyle wore a silver blazer... and with a closer look, was recogniseable as Ralsen, the very same faller with whom the Wayfarers had already had run-ins.

"Wait, by festivities, do you mean that the live music out there, and the catering, is specifically for us? So then, are these meetings today on our account as well?"

Arthur cleared his throat, and reached in a suit pocket for a tiny flask of something. "Well, the fine people here like to throw a celebration from time to time, especially when a few bright-and-shining young people can be invited for their swearing-in and so forth. Even one or two is a good enough excuse, haha. Of course, you and your friends are the most to be admitted at once in, well, a tremendously long time! Can you blame us for putting a bit of effort in, eh?"

He beamed happily, took a swig from his flask, and dabbed at his mouth with a white 'kerchief. The Hypno had cultivated something of a dignified white moustache beneath his prodigious nose, and it looked as if he took good care of it.

"The meetings, ah, yes and no. We have meetings when we're able, and if everyone is present at the Congress, then, well! We're able! They're not really about you all, but everyone being here certainly meant we may as well hold a few, you follow? They're spaced throughout the day, to avoid being tedious. I have to admit that I've been terribly excited to give some bright-and-shining new minds a chance to participate in one, given Lord Articuno's gleaming endorsement of you! And, well, better to do that before the festivities wear you all out, no?"

He chuckled amiably at his own joke.

However, being immediately offered a seat at the roundtable was partially shocking--he'd never met any of the Wayfarers, so how did he know none of the three of them were walking menaces to society? And he just willingly invited them into a meeting without thinking twice about it.

It seemed that Arthur had spoken to Articuno about the Wayfarers already – and been told only good things about them. Their being here at all meant that they'd been approved-of and were to be full members by end of day. Apparently new initates weren't excluded from the roundtables – the Covenant might not have a particularly stratified leadership at all! Either that, or Arthur was very influential.

"So that would make you the descendant of a human? First generation, or...?" He trailed off, suddenly aware of what he was asking. He offered a polite and somewhat sheepish smile towards Garnet. "Forgive me, that might be a bit too personal of a question."

Steven had moved the conversation on immediately after asking this, regardless of Garnet's response, but when a break in chatter presented itself, a Flaaffy in a turmeric-yellow dress tapped him carefully on the shoulder and gave him a nod of greeting.

"Angel's blood is a... rather old-fashioned way of saying you're descended from a summoned hero," she said, discreetly. "Most Covenant are descended from humans, but not all from heroes." She smiled warmly at Steven. "I'm not human at all, actually. Flaaffy Saffron, head of the Explorers' Office. My pleasure to meet you."

 

[Sinderella]

Odette whipped her head in the direction of the new voice, both startled and unsurprised to see a new face sauntering toward them. She tried not to allow her gaze to be too scrutinizing as she watched the scizor take her seat, but she supposed that their arrival answered approximately 1/14th of her question.

"Bearer of Angel's blood" made her tip up an eyebrow, though Steven took the liberty of querying about it before she could, and luckily got a decent answer out of a flaafy that wandered in. At least somebody was keen to answer her question upfront, though it was a little shocking to hear that the flaaffy wasn't human born.

She was followed by a decidueye and grovyle, the latter of which looked a little too familiar. To him, Odette couldn't help but squint.

"Well. Pleasure to meet everyone's acquaintances."

Deciding to wait to once again ask everyone's official titles within the Covenant (as surely she'd have to keep doing it until everyone arrived), she set her sights on a different line of questioning. "So if I understood Articuno correctly, this is where all you Covenant luminaries and knights and whatnot meet to chat. If not specifically about us, what exactly else is on the docket today? In short?"

 

[Inkedust]

Bellatrix leaned back and listened to the murmurings of the Covenant members, paying particularly close attention to Arthur. After a brief moment of consideration, she asked, "So I imagine that you have a good idea of what the beam of Radiant light in Tyrrier is then? A potential topic for discussion this roundtable, perhaps?"

Though, Something in Garnet's introduction gave him pause. 'Bearer of Angel's blood'? Steven tapped a claw to his chin. "So that would make you the descendant of a human? First generation, or...?" He trailed off, suddenly aware of what he was asking. He offered a polite and somewhat sheepish smile towards Garnet. "Forgive me, that might be a bit too personal of a question."

"Wait, by festivities, do you mean that the live music out there, and the catering, is specifically for us?"

"So then, are these meetings today on our account as well?"

"Not at all!" giggled Garnet. "My late father was a human and he taught me everything I needed to know about my position." She looked around as several others filtered in to the gathering. "But that's never stopped me from indulging from the good gossip, so indulge me for a moment –" she leaned forward like she was trying to whisper to the trio of Wayfarers yet she continued in her usual speaking voice "– I've heard that some of your Angels aren't even human. Is it true?" She gasped then clasped her pincers together. "Isn't that just adorable?"

Garnet smiled and then said, "I hope you don't mind me saying that you three strike me as human, you just have that look to you. So if you'd like to think that way about the congress, then by all means."

"Angel's blood is a... rather old-fashioned way of saying you're descended from a summoned hero," she said, discreetly. "Most Covenant are descended from humans, but not all from heroes." She smiled warmly at Steven. "I'm not human at all, actually. Flaaffy Saffron, head of the Explorers' Office. My pleasure to meet you."

"But does it not sound grand?" asked Garnet in response to the flaaffy. "Befitting of a celebration of this calibre?"

 

[Sinderella]

Odette tilted her head questioningly at Garnet, but kept her look polite. It certainly was not her place to look taken aback already; they'd just gotten here.

But, what the fuck did that even mean? You just have that look to you? She slanted quick glances between both Steven and Bellatrix. Steven looked like a stereotypical UFO with claw machine claws for arms and Bellatrix looked like the lovechild between a fox and Rachel McAdam's wig in Mean Girls. She herself was probably the closest thing to a "human" silhouette, and she had three pairs of fucking thought-spilling jaws hanging off her head. What fucking look? Not to mention, listening to her insist that they think of the whole roundtable group as human or human descendent when the apparent head to the Explorers' Office just admitted to not being was absolutely nuts.

"Adorable?" she asked, sounding genuinely curious. "I mean, it's true, some aren't human."

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

More members began to filter into the room, and Steven watched passively, that is until one in particular caught his eye. The one familiar face here, and it was him. Ralsen. His gaze narrowed, lingering on the Grovyle for a moment, before he turned back to the others with an easy smile like nothing had even transpired.

"Of course not," he said, echoing Arthur's chuckling with a polite laugh of his own. "Nothing wrong with celebrating such an occasion. It's all been quite impressive so far."

His diplomatic smile held steady as he turned it towards Garnet, though it took some effort not to let it falter at the lilt in her tone at the word, 'gossip.' "I appreciate you indulging my curiosity," he said. "So it's only fair to return the favor."

"It's as Odette said. We have several in our group who aren't human, but I've found it hardly matters." At this, he turned to Saffron, where his smile grew more genuine. A silent thank you for her earlier kindness, and reassurance that it was a pleasure to meet her as well. "They answered the call, the same as us."

 

[Jackie Cat]

"But does it not sound grand?" asked Garnet in response to the flaaffy. "Befitting of a celebration of this calibre?"

"Adorable?" she asked, sounding genuinely curious. "I mean, it's true, some aren't human."

"It's as Odette said. We have several in our group who aren't human, but I've found it hardly matters." At this, he turned to Saffron, where his smile grew more genuine. A silent thank you for her earlier kindness, and reassurance that it was a pleasure to meet her as well. "They answered the call, the same as us."

"Well-said," replied Saffron, with a knowing smile. "Anyone chosen by the light, and who answered its call, is surely a friend of Forlas. What matters is one's character and capability, and we should judge each person separately in those respects."

"Yes, yes, of course," agreed Arthur, nodding along. "It may be strange for the Beacon to summon pokémon from other worlds, but we have no reason to believe it was a mistake, and every reason to assume that they are as exceptional as any other summoned. I'm sure they'll prove themselves resoundingly in due time."

"It sounds like they already have," mused Saffron.

"Mm? Yes, yes, of course – I meant as members of this splendid society, no? Just the same as the human Wayfarers. They all received Lord Articuno's commendations, after all."

The Decidueye, along with Ralsen, took their seats at the table as this was being said. The owl crossed her wings over her chest, her expression dry and unimpressed.

"For all we know, it is the world that summons travel from that gives them their power, not their kind. Not every summon even remembers that they were human 'before'. What is truly strange is the number of summons, and their intact memories," she stated, matter-of-factly. "If we believe that the Beacon summoned these Wayfarers in the usual manner, what does that tell us to expect their Crisis to be? We should be working at all hours, not celebrating, if such a great Crisis is to come."

So, some in the Covenant believed that some summoned heroes might have been pokémon in the past. Obviously a minority opinion, but still...

Arthur waved her concerns away with a theatrical scoff. "Oh, come now, Tawenna! They have already resolved a pair of intertwined Crises, I'm told! Why, we may be so lucky as to already have their mission put behind them. Why be so pessimistic? Besides, I have already promised these brave souls that this meeting is on other, more substantive topics!"

Tawenna stared unblinking at Arthur. He didn't seem to notice. (To be fair, she did seem to hold that same expression continuously.)

"So if I understood Articuno correctly, this is where all you Covenant luminaries and knights and whatnot meet to chat. If not specifically about us, what exactly else is on the docket today? In short?"

"So I imagine that you have a good idea of what the beam of Radiant light in Tyrrier is then? A potential topic for discussion this roundtable, perhaps?"

"So what is on the agenda?" asked Saffron, mildly.

"Well, as the young ladies to my right have rightly said, the strange occurrences in our northerly neighbour are a matter for our present concern," exposited Arthur, his hands gesturing first right, and then northwards. "I've read the outline, of course, but let's go over it for everyone's benefit."

"After introductions, I assume?"

"Mm, yes, quite right. Thank you, Saffron. Would you do the honours?"

The Flaaffy nodded with a bemused smile, and briefly announced the various persons at the table – their species, names and positions.

Lord Arthur, Speaker of the Council
Decidueye Tawenna, Head of the Sable Office
Flaaffy Saffron, Head of the Explorers' Office
Grovyle Ralsen, Explorer 1st Class
Scizor Ser Garnet, Knight-Chevalier of the Order of the Lantern
Metang Steven, Wayfarer
Mawile Odette, Wayfarer
Zoroark Bellatrix, Wayfarer

(Although several other 'mon were present, not all of them would be of relevance to this particular encounter...)

"We are still waiting on Ser Aster and Ser Zaffre, I'm afraid," she finished, with a sigh.

"Tardy as usual," tutted Arthur. He checked the pocketwatch again with a brisk click open and snap shut. "Well, so be it. We'll have a couple minutes of small talk, and then if they're still not here, we'll proceed without them. It doesn't reflect well on them to keep our newest members waiting!"

"Weren't the Wayfarers a spontaneous inclusion to this meeting?" asked Tawenna, coolly. "Those two won't be expecting our newest members at all."

Arthur made a noncommittal, 'well, you know,' face and gesture with his palms. "Ah, well, either way, either way. It's the principle of the damn thing."

 

[Inkedust]

"Now, now, I never said there was anything wrong with that," Garnet said with a dismissive wave of her pincer. "Nor do I wish to imply that your pokémon members are less capable than you or I." Though the scizor could've been speaking the truth, the hastiness of the comment almost certainly gave the air of 'I can't be a human supremacist, I have pokémon friends!' She continued. "I just simply find delight in the novelty of the thought. It's not every day you hear something like that. Especially given the other oddities about them! Oooooh, it's just like a fairytale, I could fly just thinking about it!" Her wings buzzed as she spoke, emphasizing her excitement.

"Quite," replied Bellatrix bluntly. She glanced at Tawenna then at Arthur. "Although it is true that we have already dealt with two crises – two pidgey with one stone, so to speak – I don't doubt that there is still work to be done. What that work may be?" she asked rhetorically. "Well, I suppose us trying to find out is part of the reason we have chosen to sit at this table with you."

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

Steven settled in as the assembled pokemon took their places at the table, and role call was read. So, Ralsen was an Explorer then; he worked under Saffron. That was a good mental note to catalogue for later...

"If we believe that the Beacon summoned these Wayfarers in the usual manner, what does that tell us to expect their Crisis to be? We should be working at all hours, not celebrating, if such a great Crisis is to come."

Steven hesitantly raised a claw. "I don't see anything wrong with some levity, considering the circumstances, but I don't disagree with Lady Tawenna, either..."

He sent a meaningful look towards Bellatrix-- acknowledgement and agreement-- before addressing the roundtable as a whole. "It's hard to explain, but... it doesn't feel like we've accomplished what we'd been summoned here to do."

 

[Sinderella]

Odette nodded to herself. Somehow, Garnet being a knight was both fitting and not. The way her tone inflected the energy of a conservative middle-aged rich woman who didn't want to admit her views were wrong and instead inadvertently doubled down on them in another way made Odette want to laugh out loud. She focused in on the "small talk" at hand, as the decidueye--Tawenna--was finally letting that chilly exterior voice itself.

"I guess to bounce off my cohorts, to me it felt like...we came upon those Crises unintentionally. As in, they were brewing alongside the true reason we were brought here, but we've yet to solve that true reason, if that makes sense. As much as I don't wish ill of this world, I'm a pessimist at heart. I wouldn't be particularly surprised if something else were coming down the pipe...if this apparent issue in the North are of any indication."

 

[Jackie Cat]

Tawenna nodded gravely. "If your hearts tell you that more is still to come, we should all be ready for worse things."

"The intuition of a summoned hero may be the guiding light of the Beacon speaking through their subconscious," added Saffron. "Or it may be Mawile Odette's cynicism only. It is wisdom either way to be well-prepared!"

Arthur sniffed, and tapped the table with a knuckle. "Quite so. Quite so! Which brings us, I suppose – in the absence of Sers Zaffre and Aster – to the matter of the Tyrrian troubles..."

The door flung open as new arrivals entered the room. A smartly-dressed Meowstic and a more weatherbeaten Flygon presented themselves with a bow, followed by a mildly out-of-breath Laura.

"Well, then," chuckle Saffron. "May I present Meowstic Ser Zaffre and Flygon Ser Aster of Worlds Else, Knights-Commander of the Order of the Lantern. And Meowth... Ah, I'm terribly sorry but I believe this is an unexpected new Wayfarer...?"

"Meowth Laura Weir of Galar, Wayfarer," supplied Laura in a thin voice, wide-eyed at the assembled heads of office around the table. "Excuse me, I, ah, got a little lost on my way here. These knights were kind enough to show me the way."

Ser Aster looked openly smug at the alibi for her lateness. Ser Zaffre had the humility to look chagrined.

Arthur raised a brow. "Ah, I don't believe I recognise you, Miss. Were you among the group at the pavilion...?"

Laura chuckled awkwardly. "I'm told I blend into the background sometimes! Maybe you didn't notice me?"

"Ha! Well, in that case, perhaps you should join the Sable Office, Ms. Laura! We have need of stealthy maidens such as yourself."

"Um, thank you?"

'Stealthy maidens'? Laura made a gallant attempt to hide her perplexed reaction, and found a seat near the other Wayfarers.

"You were saying, Arthur?" prompted Saffron.

"Yes, yes – the matter of Tyrrier."

Arthur briefly laid out an overview of strange happenings in the country of Tyrrier, which bordered the Commonwealth to its north. Tawenna and Saffron each supplied additional details of their own, from explorers and Sable agents deployed there.

"These pokémon that behave so strangely... Could they be fallers?" asked Ser Zaffre, leaning forward with interest.

"Perhaps," mused Arthur. "We can hope as much—"

"I've looked into this a little myself," interrupted Laura, without thinking. "The gyarados is certainly wild according to eyewitnesses – fishermon and traders – and there is a native population of murkrow wildren. My working theory is that the strange dungeon activity has disturbed their natural behaviours somehow."

Remembering herself, Laura meekly mouthed an apology. Arthur returned a curious look, apparently not offended.

"The dungeon activity, yes... Let's discuss that in just a moment – does anyone else have anything to add on the subject of strange behaviour in Tyrrier's wildren?"

He looked about the table for comments.

 

[Inkedust]

Bellatrix leaned forward in her seat and clasped her paws in front of her muzzle. "The murkrow have been a persistent oddity not just in Tyrrier but across swaths of Luctemar," she said. "After much thought, I believe that there has to be a honchkrow involved in it somehow as wildren murkrow do not seem to be particularly picky about which calls they follow. The status of said honchkrow, however... wild, faller, a native Forlasian, I cannot say, though it would be rather odd if they were wild."

Garnet had straightened in her seat and hummed a short tune to herself as she listened to the ongoing discussion. "Maybe they're just having a good laugh," she giggled. "A delinquent who decided to take a prank just a bit far, conspiring with the glyph-maker to make things appear spookier then they are."

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

The Knights' sudden arrival was surprising as it was welcome, as was the addition of Laura to their little group. Steven gave her a brief nod as she joined them at the table, not wanting to interrupt the proceedings now that they were underway.

Steven thought for a moment with a claw to his chin before asking, "Do we have any recorded images of the glyphs? I have some... experience with deciphering ancient languages." He briefly glanced down the table towards Ralsen as he said this, before addressing the group as a whole again. "Perhaps I could be of help in discovering their origin or meaning, and maybe shed some light on this mystery."

At Garnet's mention of a prank, he then added, "With so many strange occurrences reported, it'd be an error to dismiss them without proper study first, wouldn't you agree?"