Anyone who happened to see Tamlin's face when the new arrivals became clear would have seen a mixture of resignation and vindication flash across it. Still, it was schooled to careful neutrality a moment later.

"Back up a bit, little brother," he said quietly, "You do not know the protocols yet, and that means you might make a choice for us before the King and Queen have decided."

Erica kept her face straight, her sword down, and her mouth shut.  This was father's business only.

... abase ourselves?  Branwen goggled at the Faerie with ill-concealed incredulity, her hands not wavering from their poise, ready to cast again at so much of a twitch of encouragement from Dad.  ... abase ourselves, right.  Who does this bitch think she is?

Tamlin seems to reach a decision and slips off his small dagger and sheath, holding them towards Erica.

"Hold this, things are about to get touchy," he told his sister dryly before he walked towards the Queen and her honor guards.

"Tamlin, Prince of Avalon, greets Her Imperial Majesty, Empress of the Daoine Sidhe," he said, giving her a polite bow, "While it would be remiss for me to intervene in such weighty affairs, I beg your indulgence to gather those injured in the recent mishap and dismiss the spectators. The discussions of empire are not served by the same gallery as those of a chivalric nature."

He glanced at Tristan.

"We would, of course, see to the needs of all our guests if permitted."

It is a stalling tactic, but an all out clash here wouldn't favor the unprepared Royals in his estimation.

Corwin had half-raised Greyswandir to respond to this arrogant fae woman when his son stepped in. He swept his gaze about the crowd and announced in a cold voice "The revels are ended. All guests are to depart at once." The guards would begin escorting people out of the stands, even manhandling a few who insisted on staying to spectate.

Cait's use of a Power Word had jolted some life back into Sir Tristan, who came to with a start and then demanded to be let down.

Titania glared at Branwen, with an expression that might have killed with a look. Then she looked at Corwin. "Your son knows manners even if you do not. I am not unreasonable. Send a delegation to Glanden Tor in what you deem Nolava on the first night of the full moon. They will be allowed safe passage, should they come bearing these tokens." She waved her hand and several green pennants edged in gold fell at her feet. "Meet my terms and your realm will not be pillaged any further from that point. Until the conference however..."

Another gesture, and there was the sound of a large explosion. Black smoke began to drift up from the town at the base of the cliff the castle stood on. The morning air began to turn slightly red as well, as the trees in the forest atop the cliff suddenly caught flame and ignited into a wildfire. "All of nature will be at your throat. We're done here." She snapped her fingers and there was a blinding flash of blue light again. When it cleared Titania, her delegation, and Sir Tristan were all gone as if they never were.

The sound of alarm bells began to toll as the watchtowers in the castle and the city began alerting the people to the sudden danger they were in.

Cait wasn't sure what to make of what just happened. Her father was supposed to be the ultimate power in Avalon... so why was she so easily able to overcome his defenses and assault his people without a single act of retaliation... was he weaker than Caitriona had always been led to believe?

Seeing the fire start at the top of the mountain, Cait worked at conjuring rain clouds to move overhead. People's lives depended on getting the fire under control and there would be no other way to do it from their current position. All of the trees and flowers where she gathered her ingredients would be gone if something didn't happen fast.

She also decided she would never attend another tournament as she pushed past her family to leave the tournament stands without another word. Branwen attacked Sir Tristan who was competing in her name... and now he'd been taken prisoner by the fae woman.

Her path was clear and it wasn't remaining hiding behind parents and brothers.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:26, Thu 29 Nov 2018.

That does not sound in the least good to Cador.  But, for now the immediate problems must be dealt with.

“Father, with your permission I’ll take my knights and see that order is maintained in the city.” he offers.  The wildfire will have to be dealt with by others - if they can

Kierahn stayed paused on his perch near to where the lady had stood moments before, for a few seconds before leaping into the air and landing precisely where the strange lady had stood moments before.  His olfactory glands swelled ever so slightly under his bidding, and he took in wafts of air in search of her scent.  He wasn't expecting to track her, but he wanted her scent memorized for future reference.  Slowly he picked up the tokens that would grant entry to Nolava, deftly slipping one of them into his own pocket in a covert manner, just in case someone felt overprotective enough to prohibit him from tagging along.  Turning he states, "Seems it's time for us to return home, Aunt Oriana...", his hand open revealing the tokens he'd picked up from off the ground.

"We need to get those to our father," Tamlin told Kierahn, "And quickly if we're going to stop the damage from growing worse."

Kierahn nods, but comments nonetheless, "The first night of the full moon won't come any quicker, but yes, I intend for these to go to father.".

[OOC: While I can see why it looked like I was handing them to Oriana, that wasn't how I planned/envisioned it.  I was speaking to her while revealing the tokens to Corwin, not intending that she receive them.]

The storm Caity summoned began to drop rain on the fire, dousing it before it could consume too much of the forest. There was the smell of burnt vegetation in the air, but it wasn't the firestorm that it could have easily become.

Corwin saw his youngest head off on her own, and his brow furrowed. He shared a look with Lorraine, and then stepped forward to the balcony.

"Kids, it's time I taught you the art of delegation. Cador, take some knights and investigate what's happening in town. I want our people protected. Do what you feel is necessary. Once the city is secured report back and put the knights on a war footing. I'll meet you in the war room in two hours and we'll go over our strategy."

He looked to Tamlin. "Tamlin, take one of those pennants. You're our expert on the Fae. If anyone's going to negotiate with them, if we go that route, it'll be you. Hit the library, study everything we've got on the Fae. Oriana will make Nolava's libraries up to you too."

He looked to Kierahn. "Go after your twin. I don't know what she's planning but I don't want her alone when an enemy is on the loose. Protect her, son."

He looked to Oriana. "Come with me. I have an idea." He looked to Lorraine, who nodded. "I might be gone for a bit. If anything comes up and I'm not available, you kids listen to your mother."

“It shall be done, sire” Cador answers his father, stepping forward, and barking commands.  “You! squire!  Go to the knights and tell them to take charge of the city gates.  Entrance and egress to be controlled in an orderly fashion.  They are to tell the gatewardens, it is my command, in the King’s name.  I will return to them with further orders.

He looks to the nearest knights.  “You two with me.  I would survey the city, and the site of the detonation.  Aurelius shall takes us.  Aurelius!  Ready!”

Hmm..   Tristan.   I wonder.  Everyone else seemed committed to action whether by fleet of food, random use of magics (there was no actual proof that Tristan had done anything!), or simply the need to draw steel (or silver!) but Marian waited and watched.

What had caused her vision of traceries in the sky?  Why had it so obviously pointed at Tristan when it could have pointed anywhere (indeed, if she were attacking her family, she'd have pointed her own 'showing' at one of her siblings as it would have certainly resulted in a good deal of confusion.)

The arrival of the armour clad fairy-titan and her guard (all being of immense strength and magical power) didn't help to clarify matters though it did at least measurably point towards Branwen's rash actions as an immediate cause of hostility towards the woman.   As usual, Branwen acted before she thought!

For now thought the 'Faerie Queen' had them at a disadvantage and Marian watched not only the 'Queen' but her family.  Did anyone know about this?  Did she spot Tamlin's resignation and could it mean that he knew of this?  Her speculation was confirmed as Tamlin chose to speak to the Queen using a title that spoke of familiarity - one that the 'Queen' herself had not used.

The woman's departure was no less impressive though hopefully Marian was able to analyse the departure a little more carefully than the entrance.

She did however note that her father had not delegated any specific task to her and so she waited too, considering where to her might be heading, why and what for.

OOC: Hopefully discovering something about the powers used for transport.  I sadly have no 'clue' to follow - which is why I've been silent.  I'll remain silent for the time being as I'd prefer not to pick on Branwen for her rash actions or on Tamlin for being a traitor :-)

"I'd meant to drop it off and see about tracking their path, but I imagine they've left a rear guard," Tamlin told his father, "It pains me to admit there's probably little in either library but I'll work through it tonight and, if needed, work out who I need to talk to next."

Tamlin suspected this was going to be a long chain to work through, but with luck he could start in the middle rather than having to work across everything.

So off to the library he went, with this or that tome and scroll pulling itself free and presenting itself to him as he scratched out notes in tiny, near chicken scratch hand writing on a clay tablet.

Corwin looked at Marian. "Marian, I need you to work on our magical defense. Oriana will help as she can, but I'm trusting you to make whatever just happened here..." He gestured to where Titania had been. "Not possible again. I don't like people just appearing in my home without warning."

Tamlin made a few more notes, had a message delivered to his parents, and rubbed at his eyes as the tiredness fully hit him. A glance up showed that it was not quite twilight yet, but it would only be a piece of an hour to change that. He stood and popped his back with a sigh.

"Prepare a travel pack for three days," he told the empty air before making his way to see his parents. There should be a sibling they could spare, he wasn't up to a solo trip if it could be helped.

Marian is most certainly paying very close attention to the events and notes that her father hadn't immediately picked up (or possibly picked up and not mentioned - he was a wiley old man after all) on the fact that Tamlin was by no means surprised by the arrival.  She however trusts her father for the time being and nods as he gives her a task.  "That will be difficult given our magical defences were overcome."  She pauses and then asks, "I assume the solution used in Amber isn't suitable?"  She obviously means the complete suppression of magic in their home world.  Her father's tales of Amber and the fact that no magic worked there had always fascinated her.

While she's waiting for her father she'll work on a spell to conjure a magical container and capture some of the air brought through by Titania.  The disturbance had been both magical and physical implying some sort of interconnection and an exchange of atmosphere.   Some trace from a sample might be analysed to give them a hint of the 'other end' of the disturbance.   When she's ready (which will hopefully not be long) she'll release the spell.

The knights quickly formed up on Cador and Aurelius swooped down to let Cador and his knights board. Once they were on, Aurelius spread his wings and took off for the city. A journey of perhaps an hour was done in less than fifteen minutes. What greeted them was a nightmare.

The city was burning. The storms that Cait had summoned to quell the fire in the forests atop the cliff had yet to sweep down into the city. Blacksmoke was ablaze, the smoke rising from beyond the hills. The Sentinel River had been piled high with the trash that was normally washed away, and it too was burning, spreading the flames into Slopeside and Riverside. There were smaller fires burning in Byzantine and Royal Hills. But what caught Cador's attention was the screaming coming from the Royal Hills district.

Aurelius swept down lower and the knights could see strange winged humanoids, clad in armor that seemed to be made all of spikes and thorns. They were chasing the well-dressed citizens of the city's most prominent district, and butchering them with swords and axes. The armored creatures were concentrating at the estates of the wealthiest nobles in the city, cutting down guards and hacking their way into the fortified homes of the elite.

Marian was able to conjure her container and capture a sample of the air Titania had left.

Tamlin would find Corwin, Oriana, and Lorraine in the war room when he came looking. Lorraine looked up at her son. "You seem tired Tamlin. Have you found anything?"

"References to her method of travel. Enough that I can navigate towards it without relying entirely on the tokens she left," Tamlin replied as he pinched the bridge of his nose, "Once I am closer to that it will be a matter of getting information from the locals. Normally I would try to keep my brothers and sisters, hell everyone really, away from them but..."

He gave a tired smile.

"-We seem to be well past that point. So if we can spare a few who will not object to magic and accept strange orders because I said so they are welcome."

A small shrug.

"Otherwise I go with cold iron, a crown of holly, and berry-ink. Which means that I will be ready to fight but only be able to scout for so long before they notice me."

Damn it!  Those fae have done more than enough!

First Cador assesses the fires, forming a plan to deal with them - where firebreaks may be made, where water may be got, which buildings must be sacrificed that more may be spared.  Two hours will not be enough to finish the job, but at least with his view from the sky he can see more than those on the ground.

He instructs the knights in his plan, and takes them down to where they may meet with the city authorities.  They will have to see that his commands are put into action, backed by the authority of his signet, and the name of the King.

Meanwhile, the winged creatures may be doing well against earthbound guards but perhaps an attack from above will be a different matter. “Come Aurelius,battle awaits!”.he cries.

 He hopes that the great eagle’s beak and talons will prove more effective than the weapons of the hapless guards.

It really hadn't taken long to do, but apparently answering questions wasn't high on Corwin's agenda.   With sample captured, Marian turned to further examining the tunnel-like effect for magical residues.   Was it sorcery or some sort?  It certainly had felt like more but what were they?  She had access to multiple means of analysing those residues - and so she set to work.

Cador's commands were given and the knights left with the city authorities to see that they were carried out. In the meantime, Cador and Aurelius soared into the battle. The Fae seemed disoriented at being on the receiving end of an aerial attack, and although their armor was hard and Cador would need to check Aurelius's talons, the great bird did managed to crush two attacking fae, one in each talon. Cador's own sword took off the head of another. The Fae stopped advancing and quickly began to retreat into the Royal Hills District to regroup.

Marian discovered through her research that what Titania had done was a type of sorcery. It wasn't the normal type that she and her siblings were used to, but it seemed to be some kind of variant that the Fae had developed. Analyzing the residue brought her the scent of powerful magic, as if the air was supercharged with it somehow where Titania had been, as well as the taste of...berries?

Corwin and Lorraine looked at Tamlin and smiled. Corwin said "Get some rest first son. We'll need you at your best. When you go, take Marian and some knights with you. Do what you can but come back in one piece. I don't want any heroics. Just get what advantage you can and get back to tell of it."

Cador directs Aurelius to swoop down on the fae again and again, harassing them and driving them apart.  He refuses to permit them to gather and organise, for then they would become a far greater threat.

Still working on the analysis Marian considers her findings.   The question she has to ask herself though is... without magic, would her home survive?  If she managed to change her home, what damage would she do suppressing magic here? And if she could do that, would it be possible to suppress magic selectively?

"Understood," Tamlin told his parents before he excused himself with a bow and tracked down his sister.

"Marian," he said with a polite knock on the door a few minutes later, travel bag slung over one shoulder, "You drew short straw."