"Indeed," Gale agrees with Hoal.

She's happy to dance a little with the fairies and make cantrip sparkles if time allows.  A smile and wave is sent the way of the little human girl.  Gale smiles and bows politely to the queen.

"Quite pleasant, thank you.  May I introduce Timothius the healer and May the weapon master."

She gestures to the new faces.

  Hoal goes through the proper courtesies.  "Thank you for sending such a pleasant Escort, Queen Snowform."  We admit, Hoal's player had to backscroll through the thread for that one.

The queen says, "Very pleased to meet you! And this little girl is Antoinette. She will be going with you to the Feywild. The girl is an expert wanderer; knowing where to go and somehow avoid danger. Stay with her and you should be fine."

Gale nods her agreement with Hoal.  To the queen's statement Gale's eyes widen in surprise.

"Wow.  That will be very helpful.  Thank you, your highness.  Thank you, Antoinette. So...  Does this mean you want us to go to the Feywild right away?"

  "Just the same, I am sure I speak for us all for intending to keep Antoinetee safe should danger find us anyway."  Of course, that goes for fellow combat lovers as much as it would less enthusiastic about violence children.  (Hiiiii Eli).

Mara-Kai asks, "And are you sure it's safe to take Antoinette to the Feywild?"

"Positive." the queen responds. "As for when you go? I guess the sooner the better, right?"

Antoinette says in a soft tone, "You're welcome. Thank you." her eyes are staring at the ground.

Gale nods her agreement with Hoal but she's assuming Ant must be capable of suriving well enough on her own if she has made it thus far alive and sure enough the queen confirms her guess.

"You're welcome, Antoinette."

To the queen she says, "Our purpose in the Feywild would be diplomatic.  One, to locate and hopefully ally with as many groups who seek a peaceful outcome, and tow, to try and persuade as many others as oissible to do the same.  We came here to ask your help with Rain's memory loss, so we at present do not have our king's authorization to represent him officially.  It likely would be wise to get his blessing before we departed for the Feywild."

  "I somehow suspect we shall only their blessing if we have already been succesful, but then I do tend to be cynical at times." Or, you know, realistic

Once the group is ready, Antoinette begins wandering off. The queen seems confused at the idea of going all the way back home just to ask permission to do what they are already doing, but shrugs and waves farewell. Within minutes, the fairies are no longer in sight.

"Better to have our authorization rejected than to get arrested for attempting to usurp the authority of the crown or worse," Gale says, "To be honest there's a part of me that hopes we'll be turned down.  Representing a country is a huge responsibility especially now with two worlds hanging in the balance.  At the very least the king would be wise to assign us an experienced diplomat."

She smiles down at Ant.

"Could you show us a shortcut to the palace, please, hon?"

  "I somehow get the feeling Antoinette's directions are not very open to requests."

Antoinette looks at Gale's belly, sucking in her lower lip as her eyes show confusion. Seconds later, she answers, "...I do not understand."

Mara-kai says, "We want to get home quick."

Antoinette says, "....OK." but doesn't move from her spot until the others start moving.

May asks, "Is it just me, or does this girl seem out of it?"
This message was last edited by the player at 03:33, Tue 15 Apr 2014.

Gale shrugs to Hoal's guess.  "Worth a shot?"

She nods to Mara-Kai's clarification and to May's question.

"Not just you, May."

Gale then uses detect magic in a futile attempt to diagnose what sort of spell Ant might be under.  She smiles, blows Antoinette a kiss cantripped to include glitter and perfume.

"Thanks again for helping, sweetheart.  May and I are a little concerned for you.  If you know the reason, please tell us why you are so spaced out...  so distracted."

  Oh Antoinette.  Such a nice girl, if spectacularly awkward to work with.  "Unless the Queen of the Fairies is spectacularly neglectful, I suspect out of it is the worst we have to worry for her sake."

OOC: Love Hoal, love Voidsoul Genasi.  But kind of MEH about Swordmage for some reason even if Tim, Chris, and Seth all have a cool time and are very effective.  Though still can't think of another class I would enjoy/fit the guy at the moment.  Plus Mechanically I GOTS to nab his racial feat first thing at level one.

Thinking of Ant also has me wonder how she'd react to Shardminds, who in Suggested Lore could be considered FROM SPACE.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:43, Wed 23 Apr 2014.

Antoinette slowly looks at the glitter with the expression of awe one would expect a child to have at a magic show. Then goes back to staring at Gale's belly. She sucks in her lower lip when Gale asks her question. After a few seconds, Antoinette gives the closest answer she can, "I think about a lot of things. I can't help it. It's hard to concentrate."

May asks, "Things like what?"

Once again, it takes her a few seconds, but Antoinette says, "Where void souls go when they disappear. How dragons always have a hoard. What it must be like to turn into water. If Gale looks in the mirror sometimes to admire her hair. How magic works. The strength of the walls in Gitbin City. How would smells look if we could see them. How would sound taste if we could eat it. The beginning of the world."

May says, "OK... I get it. Lots of things."

---

OOC: If she saw a shardmind? She would run screaming. Come to think of it, that would serve as a perfect flaw for her; runs screaming or keeps distance around aberrant creatures and anything to do with the Far Realm.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:28, Fri 25 Apr 2014.

Gale nods to Hoal.  "Is kinda what I figured, but was worth asking just in case."

She gives Ant an endearing smile and reaches to gently pet the child.

"Such a sweet little girl you are, Antoinette.  Thank you for making room for us in your thoughts."

  Voidsouls go backstage, they have snacks there.

  "Some questions easier than others, but that is the way with all questions."

Antoinette's eyes slowly look up before looking into Gale's. A smile comes on her face and then she looks down again.

May says, "Well let's get back to Gitbin, then, and get permission to do the world a favor." she eyerolls. "Seriously, if they arrest you for that? The crown NEEDS to be usurped!"

Mara-Kai says, "Maybe. Or maybe someone jealous of us that isn't the king would use our lack of permission as an excuse to throw stumbling blocks in our way. Better to be slowed down once to become official and mow over anyone standing in our way than to be slowed down every step of the way.."

Little pink heart-shaped bubbles flow from Gale and pop over Ant's head.  Gale chuckles and smiles at May.

"You were expecting politics to be uncomplicated?  We know we have the right intentions and we're pretty sure we have the right approach, but how are the people of the Feywild supposed to trust us when we claim to represent the interests of an entire nation without some sort of proof?  Or, suppose a group of adventurers approach our King claiming to have already worked out a verbal peace agreement with the Fey kingdoms if our king simply pays them an annual tribute of 100,000 gold.  How is our king supposed to trust that these adventurers aren't a bunch of liars trying to trick him out of large sums of money?

"Authorization like that which I seek is a necessary thing because there are plenty of untrustworthy people out there and this is one way to prove that we are legitimate.  Because of how serious it is to presume to represent an entire nation, it is not a bad thing to arrest villains who try to do so without authorization.  And to demonstrate that the crown doesn't play favorites, it is sometimes necessary to punish someone even if they had nothing but good intentions.  Especially over something controversial.  So please be understanding and don't jump to thoughts of usurping the King when he has nothing but good intentions from all appearances."

  "A fine explanation Gale.  I would have just given a simple if cynical 'Less things they can pin any blame on us for, the better.'"

May rolls her eyes. "That all makes sense except the part where the Feywild needs proof we represent Gitbin. I thought we were representing the entire world simply by virtue of we live in it and don't want to die."

Mara-Kai says, "Yeah... but without authorization, the fey may wonder why their leaders should be bothered to talk to us at all. If we come as emissaries of Gitbin, we have a better chance of getting audience with a fey king."

May says, "Guess so. Still, nothing excuses punishing those who do right. Doing that, good intentions or not, is wrong. So yes, if the king punished us for trying to save the frickin' world, I would hold nothing back!"

Antoinette says, "The king of Gitbin will not punish you for doing right."

Timothius says, "....Antoinette's probably right. I highly doubt the king will do anything of the sort. But Mara-Kai's point is true also. We can't expect the fey kings to respect us if we don't go with our king's authority. You aren't objecting we go get that, are you May?"

May headshakes. "No objection. Let's go. I'm just saying I will never abide the punishment of the innocent, and will crush anyone who practices such a sickening act."

Gale bows politely to Hoal with a smile.  "Thank you.  I like your succinct one too."

She nods to Mara-Kai and Timothius.  "Good points.  Thanks."

Gale smiles at Ant's naive trust in the king but can't bring herself to not warn her, "Keep in mind that not every leader is as nice as the king of Gitbin, Antoinette.  So be careful not to trust a ruler to always do what's right."

She turns a smile and nod to May.  "Your zeal for justice is admirable, May.  I really hope it doesn't get used against you.  I will do my best to expose to you any deception that might trick you into hurting undeserving people.  I'd hate for you to wind up with the regret of being guilty of the very thing you condemn."

  "If May's zeal for justice were more common, then such worries would not be as justified as Gale holds them to be."  Of course, there would be less in the way of doomsday prophecies and may or may not be feywild invasions going on in such a case.

  "In the event of such inevitable crushings however, do take a moment to see if there is a more direct path to it instead of needing to work through kingdom sized defenses."  He said, as they prepare to start stuff in another realm entirely.

The group is able to make it to the king and easily. Once the bunch are brought before him, he listens and seems highly skeptical of a little girl being the Feywild guide, much less sending said little girl to an unknown factor such as the Feywild.

May can't help herself and blurts out about kings supposedly punishing innocent people for doing right. The king, of course, confirms what Gale was talking about, though he also, of course, denies he would do such a thing knowingly.

Antoinette is, surprise, silent.

"Indeed," Gale agreed with Hoal, "Here's hoping such a mission never comes up."

She is sure to thank Ant for helping make the trip easy.  Gale blushes when May asks her insulting question of the King but relaxes when he reacts so frankly.

"I'm honored you consider me and my friends qualified to represent the city.  We share your concerns, but I do not know of anyone with a better reference than the Queen of the Fairies.  I am confident that she would not have recommended Antoinette if the girl were not one of the very few able to guide us to the Feywild.  I will be happy to take along anyone else you would recommend rather than put this sweet child in any more danger."