From Over The Water (RP)

From Over The Water was a rather detailed RP session between the users controlling Stephánus Tavilrond and Alessa Delacroix. The full RP logs can be read in the article RPG:From Over The Water - they are in the English language.

Due to its nature as a crossover, it is obviously non-canon, albeit some elements of it were later canonized, such as the characters Drugó Mairkel and Tinya Tondbertling making their first appearences here before being integrated into the canon.

Plot
When the Great Barrier broke, no one could say for sure. It was discovered by a whaling ship, swept west by a storm. Until then, any ship daring to pass the two small islands known as The Brothers had been dashed upon an invisible and unbreakable wall. And suddenly, a law of nature had been rewritten. Contact was established between the Kingdom of Etrand and Kingdom of Arland - at first by sailors and fishermen, and then by official diplomats. The one out of the two which decided to make an effort to break the ice was Arland, sending a highly prestigeous ambassador in the person of their own Crown Princess Alessa Delacroix, who is accompanied by her tutor, and by various other friends and relatives (Lynette Fairchild the Handmaiden, Letitia Marchand, Frederick Cranach, Lilianna Emerson, Fenrich Emerson). Upon arriving to the port of Copperport they are greeted by Mayor Caméren, who gives them shelter at his own palace. Within the city, they get to experience a cultural shock, with Fenrich - one of the more hot-blooded males of the coterie - almost getting into a trouble (trying to save a woman who was being arrested for sodomy, with the Inquisition forcing her to drink sodobane), only to be stopped by Alessa, who reminded him of their mission (representing Arland, not their own faith or their will, thus having the necessity to bow to the customs of the foreigners).

Eventually, Crown Prince Markal of Etrand - son of King Orlónius I of Etrand - arrives to Copperport with a coterie of his own, consisting of Stephánus Tavilrond, Drugó Mairkel, Tinya Tondbertling, Archbishop Mullus Arcanovi of Grandfolk, and last but not least, Rynnan Sánáye one of the advisors of the king. The prince's gang makes it to the mayor's palace, where a dinner takes place, and everyone introduces themselves to each other. This is also where Stephánus and Lynette first glance upon each other. Eventually, after the feast, it is decided that the two groups unite as one and begin sailing to Grandfolk. They decide to board a rather large ship, where everyone aboard will sleep in box-beds. During the evening, Stephánus flirts with Lynette, while Markal flirts with Alessa. In the end, the knight and the handmaiden make love one of their box-beds, taking the knight's virginity. Upon arriving to Talon the next day, they disembark the ship, then continue travelling to Grandfolk on horse-driven carriages. Within Grandfolk, the Arlish experience further culture shocks, such as the sight of golems and Orcish slaves, as well as Elves. Fenrich is disappointed to see, that Etrand too is a land with a sharp and deep divide between the classes, just like his own Arland, with the bourgeoisie living in the Inner City of Grandfolk happily profiting off the back of those hard and underprivileged workers living in the Industrial District of Grandfolk.

Eventually, the group arrives to the royal palace - the Palace of Holy Kings, referred to as the "Palace of the Light" in the roleplaying session - where they all get sheltered. Markal and Alessa go to the royal gardens, where they are greeted by King Orlónius and the king's mother Hió, an elf who, due to her elven heritage looks much younger than her own son Orlónius. Alessa has a discussion with the royal family, where it is noted that she is much more interested in ruling than her would-be-husband, and the fact that she has an education steeped in magic impresses the royal family. After telling each other about the histories of their families - with a future Alessa being compared to the late King Cairbré I of Etrand, due to her magical powers - Orlónius decides to give his blessings to a marraige between Markal and Alessa. At the same time, Lynette breaks down, apologizes to Stephánus for having taken his virginity, hugs him tight and burries her face into his chest while crying, confesses being conflicted, with there being a relationship between her and Alessa - Stephánus tries to calm her down (only making her feel even more guilty), and tries to convince her, that with the marriage between Alessa and Markal, their forbidden relationship is essentially over, and that he still loves her, even after learning about her sinful past. In the end, Lynette agrees, that with Alessa getting married, it's better to keep Stephanus as her lover and potentially future husband. After the dinner, the two once again make love - the same night, Markal and Alessa also made love.

The following day, another feast followed, a treaty was signed between the two kingdoms, and another discussion took place, with Arland's representative Alessa immediately beginning to leverage this newfound alliance, by trying to convince Etrand to send Etrandish troops to Arland to aid against their other enemies on the continent of Demia. Unfortunately, the highly promising roleplaying session was aborted at that point, with Alessa's player disappearing.

Tropes

 * / The player controlling Alessa disappeared, with contact between her and Metalhead33 becoming very sparse. With that in mind, it's highly unlikely that this will ever be continued.
 *  - Geography/Politics: The existence of Gabyr isn't acknowledged until fairly late in the RP (when discussing how Gabyr might react to an Etrandish-Arlish alliance), when logically, Arland's first contact in Artograch would have been Gabyr, not Etrand.
 * : The future marriage between Crown Prince Markal of Etrand and Princess Alessa Delacroix of Arland, combined with their military alliance. Alessa begins trying to leverage this as soon as possible, prodding the Etrandish to promise sending troops to Arland in the future to help to subdue to their enemies on Demia, ensuring Arlish domination on Demia.
 * : Alessa Delacroix and Lynette Fairchild. Both are bisexual, and both have - each other, and a man for each (Crown Prince Markal of Etrand and Stephánus respectively).
 * : Between the Ways of Darkness and the To Repay a Favour franchises.
 * : Markal ⨯ Alessa and Stephánus ⨯ Lynette
 * : It was intended for the story to switch focus form Artograch/Etrand to Demia/Arland, with all the main characters travelling (back) to Arland to consolidate their kingdom's dominion over the continent of Demia.
 * : Both the Arlish and the Etrandish are weirded out by each others' customs.
 * : Even forcing a weird potion down a seemingly innocent woman's throat. Alessa seems to believe in that, as she states "We are in a foreign country. We must bow to their customs", when confronting one of the more hot-blooded members of her coterie (Fenrich), admonishing him for almost jeopardizing her diplomatic mission by disrespecting the Etrandish laws.
 * : Both sides come off as this from the other's point of view - except for the incident with Fenrich, who viewed the foreigners as not-so-innocent bigots.
 * : The Etrandish see absolutely no problems with and nothing sexual in naked men and women bathing in the same bathing pool - something which the Arlish find absolutely revolting and scandalous...
 * : ... but it goes the other way too, with the Arlish being tolerant of various sexual orientations, while the Etrandish collectively being a race of s.
 * The group traveled from Talon to Grandfolk by horse-driven carriages rather than ships, because at the time, the map didn't contain a river between Grandfolk and Talon. Later - long after this RP was prematurely aborted - the map was changed to have a river between Talon and Grandfolk.
 * The Palace of Holy Kings was referred to as the "Palace of the Light"
 * : Fenrich Emerson almost jeopardizes Alessa's diplomatic mission by taking his sword out and approaching a group of inquisitors who were . Luckily, Alessa stops him just in time, admonishing him and.
 * : Lynette Fairchild has two love-interests in the persons of her mistresses Alessa Delacroix (with whom her relationship was mostly physical and sexual) and the recently-met Stephánus Tavilrond, with whom she develops something more romantic.
 * : Alessa is the colder, more Machiavellian woman whose version of "love" is mostly sexual and physical, while Stephánus is the more passionate man and somewhat of a hopeless romantic.
 * : Alessa ends up getting married to Crown Prince Markal of Etrand.
 * : The highly Machiavellian Alessa inquires about the political situation in Etrand in hopes of there being an exploitable crisis.
 * : Late in the roleplaying session, the existence of Etrand's rivals Gabyr, Froturn and Dragoc is finally acknowledged, and discussed, with there mentions of a coalition forming in the future to stop the Etrandish-Arlish united behemoth.
 * : Fenrich Emerson.
 * : Given how Alessa Delacroix and Crown Prince Markal of Etrand are clearly attracted to each other from the very beginning - flirting as soon as meeting each other - their marriage will most certainly end up as this (or rather, would have, if the RP session wasn't aborted).
 * : Hió of Artaburro, due to her Elven heritage, looks much younger than her own son!
 * : Arland's future queen Alessa is a highly skilled mage. The current Etrandish king's grandfather, King Cairbré I of Etrand was also a great wizard.
 *  / : The romantic relationships between Alessa and Markal, and Lynette and Stephánus seem to happen rather abruptly, with each couple only having known each other for a few days before ending up in bed together.
 *  / : The romantic relationships between Alessa and Markal, and Lynette and Stephánus seem to happen rather abruptly, with each couple only having known each other for a few days before ending up in bed together.