RP:An Alliance Reaffirmed

Part of the Rest in Pieces: Vailkrin! Arc

Summary: Called to Vailkrin for reasons unknown to her, Queen Reginae encounters Larewen in the graveyard. The two speak, reaffirming Larewen's previous promise to provide an alliance with Alithrya in exchange for aid in taking the throne of Vailkrin.

Graveyard Gates

Larewen hears Reginae's fists hit the ground and turns on her heel, fully expecting to encounter a vampire of another house. There's a lot of rage to be felt from the necromancer. A lot of hunger, too. She doesn't take the time to study what she sees as a victim, nor does she reflect upon her actions. If anyone were to look upon the two women, they would see that they both appear mad, for suddenly Larewen lunges back toward the gates and nearer to the guised ruler. "Brave of you, to be roaming these streets alone while the city is at war," she hisses. Should Reginae turn to look at her, she'd see that the necromancer has loosened her hold on her cloak. Let free, it reveals beneath it that dark green that is customary for the Lady of House Dragana. Wisps of dark brown hair are visible beneath its cowl.

Reginae , in an unfamiliar land and pulling foreign bodies from bleak soil, turns to face the voice who hissed what seemed like a warning. “Is that why Aramoth calls me here?” A city at war. What better place for a warrior to be? The colors of Larewen’s house mean nothing to the naga, for she’d packed rage and adrenaline, leaving no room for caution. “Tell me of the war!” She shouts back, her voice echoing out through the dead, still monuments of remembrance. The moonlight cast them both in hard, bleak shadows that blurred their edges with their surroundings until they both appeared half phantom to the other’s eyes.

Larewen blinks and takes a step back from the guised woman. Reginae startles her with that eagerness to know more about the war, though the mention of Aramoth does bring a wrinkle to her nose. The movement is so abrupt that her cowl shifts slightly, revealing her face. Only this time, it's free entirely of the dragon-blood engraved runes that were once present. "You haven't heard of Dragana's declaration upon Vailkrin?" she asks, taking advantage of what she believes may still be anonymity. "Did you not see the heads along Nightshade Avenue?"

Reginae ’s hands and nails are caked in dirt but she lowers them like weapons all the same. Azurite eyes spot Larewen’s face and notes the apprehensive assessment she’s being given. The naga in humanoid skin doesn’t know what to make of the woman screaming of war but she still wants to know more. “No,” she says flatly. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been here and I don’t know Dragana nor did I see the heads.” She hadn’t taken the time to. Regi’d been pulled by a compulsion to be here, in this space at this time, and she knew nothing more than that. She pretends not to notice the wrinkle at Aramoth’s name. Not that she’s overly religious but it helps to have a ‘god’ that promotes the fighting spirit she’s dripping with. “Who is Dragana and why do they fight Vailkrin?” Reginae’s no longer shouting but her words are brisk and short, crisp like freshly sharpened daggers. Said with force but not ill intent.

Larewen stares blankly at Reginae for a moment, then glances northward before her jaw loosens. So this cloaked woman isn't from Vailkrin? she wonders to herself. A slight tilt of her head to the left has her further studying the other. "Larewen Dragana?" she asks, and there's the faintest hint of damaged pride in that statement, which sounds more like a question. "The madwoman that runs House Dragana? The one that wants our throne?" She talks about herself in the third person, testing the water.

Reginae narrows her eyes at the woman, sensing something odd about her but unable to put into words. “My sister was a mad woman who wanted the throne! But I took it from her! I took it back and took her head!” An exaggeration but the image of heads lining the street was appealing in the moment. “Is this Dragana trying to take the city from her sister or get it back from her? Which one is the rightful ruler if you’re Vailkrin’s voice? Where do you side in the war?”

Larewen chuckles softly at Reginae, still unaware of who she is speaking to. Her head dips downward and she shakes it, again clicking her tongue against the top of her mouth. Her hands lift, grasping the cowl of her cloak and drawing it down to reveal her face in its entirety. "I seek to gain a throne abandoned by our Kings," she says. "Vailkrin has no ruler, and I side with myself. I've issued an open challenge to the other houses by inciting war, and will bring ruin to them by taking the throne."

Reginae ’s startled by the idea that a land could function without a ruler. “Kasyr!” She recalls the man she’d started making plans with when she was young and needed allies. “One of two forces.” She repeats thoughtfully to the area at large. The naga woman looks up at Larewen, her long mahogany hair spilling down her cloak and thinks. “If a throne is abandoned and no one dares claim it why -shouldn’t- it be yours?” It’s an earnest question. “How many other houses are challenging your claim?” If a war was on, Reginae could easily fulfill her potential and burn out some of that directionless rage she’d been stuffing down, down, down into the tip of her tail. “Fight Dragana and all the other houses.” Reginae still hasn’t put together that Larewen IS Lady Dragana. “Put their heads on spikes along the avenue and wage your war!” Reginae didn’t know a thing about this woman, if she was a good person to trust with power, if she was a fair and just leader, if she could protect her realm if it came down to it. But Regi knew about war and she wanted to be on a fighting side.

Larewen remains silent for a long moment, wondering if the woman before her truly is so clueless. Hadn't she dropped enough hints as to her identity? A glance is cast around them, seeking eavesdroppers. When she's satisfied none are present, her mismatched gaze returns to the guised naga. "All the Houses, save Dragana--" or what remains of it "--are against me doing just that," the necromancer replies, dumbfounded. "I -am- Lady Dragana." She lets that linger in the air for a few moments, mulling over her present exchange. If this woman is unallied... perhaps it's beneficial. If the woman has power. It's at this point that the necromancer truly scrutinizes her, taking into account the cloak of magic that covers the woman. "Who are you?" Her tone is almost demanding.

Reginae ’s pupils shift from the harmless, edgeless circles of her humanoid eyes to razor thin slits in the sea of azurite. Her human legs unravel, the skin peeling from them in thick sheets that vanish to reveal a long, muscular tail. The scales glittered like crystals in the night. “Lady Dragana,” Reginae repeats, holding herself high until her tail was fully shifted. “I am already a Queen, Reginae.” Her tongue flicks excitedly through her lips. In her most vile moments, she is more snake than human. “And if you wish to be a Queen, I think we can help each other.”

Larewen blinks once. A second time, even, as Reginae reveals herself. Only Larewen hasn't seen this beautiful, magnificent form of the naga. She steps nearer, ungloved hand reaching out to touch the scales of Reginae's tail as her mind process the shift. When was the last time she'd seen a naga? It was certainly a while ago. And to see Reginae's form? That was new entirely. She stops, hand inches away from the other's scales as she glances back at her. "I didn't recognize you," the elf says after another moment's silence. "My offer still stands. My alliance, in exchange for your help. And a promise to aid you in battle, should the need arise."

Reginae watches Larewen with cat like eyes. “I think time and experience has taken it’s toll on me,” she admits apologetically, for she should have recognized Larewen or remembered the houses or Vailkrin. “I’m willing to help, just tell me what to do.” Reginae extends her hand to the woman, the white of her scales flicking away to make room.

Larewen extends her own hand, clasping Reginae's hand firmly. "Then so be it. I will send word to you soon, to catch you up with the current happenings and to detail how the aid of your people could be enlisted," the necromancer says. As she speaks, the sound of the gate opening to the north once more alerts her to the arrival of another. Quickly, she draws the cowl back over her head as she glances back to the Queen of the Naga. "Until then, be well," she adds, and then slips away quietly before another can identify her. The last thing the elf needs right now is others seeking a fight, seeing as how she'd been publicly humiliated the night before.