Gathering of Sovereigns (3)

Luca wasn't entirely sure what he expected, but an invisible doorway leading directly into the Crystal Palace's royal study was not among any of his previously conceived notions. If not for the fact that the palace and its towers were all connected due to being the same artifact, per se, he'd have trouble believing it was possible to alter the connections into an ancient place like the Crystal Palace without causing major disharmony with the Eye of Selene. He was sure, however, that the miniature Sovereign Teleportation Array in the tower was not part of the original design, though it had been skillfully integrated with the palace.

Upon entering the pale-blue palace via the magical door, Luca took in the study that emanated the style of art nouveau, which was often inspired by natural forms such as the growth of plants and flowers. The developers of the game had gone all-out with their creativity, taking ages to decide on just what to use and where to use it. The style of art nouveau, in their opinion, thoroughly matched with the classic image of elven peoples, thus they wove it into the fabric of the four major elf nations with some changes between them. High Elven style was accentuated with magical creations such as crystal balls to signify their powerful magical abilities, while Wood Elves focused almost entirely on the plant-based designs, including various flowers, vines and trees. The Dark Elven style, instead of the all-smooth styles of the Light Factions, had thorns, brambles, roses and other hazardous plants accenting its design. Blood Elves used their unique magic to make the lines of their particular style appear to flow with blood-like fluids in the appearance of veins, a style that thoroughly creeped out many players.

Seated at a well-worn but expertly maintained oak desk was the striking personage of Nesine Atheys, the High Elven Queen of Cyelume and the host of their gathering. As one of the foremost experts of the Spiritual Druid School of Thought, the High Elf sovereign rarely carried weapons or artifacts. While she could not match her mother's prowess, she was powerful enough to cause natural disasters with but a thought, though it would cost her a great deal to do so. Her left hand bore a signet ring akin to that of the Valarian King's own, an item of similar design for each sovereign. The five signet rings owned by the individual rulers were both symbolic and critical, as they were artifacts that were bound by bloodline and were capable of opening anything within the ruler's borders, so long as they were standing before whatever they wished to open. It could also lock whatever its bearer so chooses, making it only unlockable with the ring itself.

Seated in a chair with an ever-present stoic expression was a Beastman, a black-maned Lion Tribesman with piercing golden eyes. His golden-brown fur was thin enough to reveal an exceptionally muscular physique, which was openly displayed due to his lack of a shirt. Wearing a battle-kilt made of fine leather from an A-grade reptilian Magic Beast he'd hunted, with bracers and greaves of matching material, and bearing an ornate necklace of ancient bones around his neck, the King of the Beastmen Rhonin Aslan radiated an aura of domination simply by existing nearby. Luca was familiar with the Beastlands ruler's gear, a three-piece set known as Rhonin's Trophy Gear. The sovereign was exceptionally proud of his achievement from his younger days, to the point where he forewent the regular clothing styles of his people, which didn't differ too much from others save for a more tribal appearance, and only ever wore this set. As such, Rhonin was often referred to as the Barbarian King.

Flipping through the pages of a book from a shelf was an elven man that gave off the impression of a Sylvan Elf from the Lord of the Rings universe, to the point that Luca had once wondered if the developers had ripped them straight from the designs of Tolkien himself. With silver-white hair and clear blue eyes, Gethras Graythius, the Wood Elf King, gave off the most serene aura of the four sovereigns present. Wearing a simple, unadorned green woven tunic, brown woven breeches and soft boots, with only a single bracelet and ring as accessories, the Wood Elf sovereign was certainly the most casually dressed of the rulers as well. This was mostly because he found gaudiness to be overbearing, only serving to overcompensate for whatever one might feel incompetent of. However, he was also disappointed with Rhonin's dress style, as it lacked any decency. The only times he ever dressed up fancily was for ceremonial purposes, a well-known fact due to his open dislike of ostentatiousness.

The first to speak, which was supposed to be the host, ended up being Rhonin, who growled lightly, "About time you showed up, Arthur. Any longer and I'd fall asleep from sheer boredom. It's so damn quiet." Unsurprisingly, Rhonin was also impatient, though he was experienced enough to know when patience was needed.

Nesine gave the Lion Tribesman a brief glare, "Whose fault was it, showing up and making a racket? Gethras and I were perfectly fine to wait quietly for everyone to arrive, and Gods above know that we don't need any noise before Bhelen shows up." Immediately, the four rulers all had looks of exasperated agreement, leading to a new silence that was quickly broken by the High Elf Queen, "Well, with the addition of that lack of subtlety just now, welcome, Arthur."

"Thank you, Nesine. It took us a little longer than expected. I spent several minutes looking for a key to the Atlas Tower, only to realize that I was wearing it on my hand the whole time." While the Atlas Tower had several keys, only two keys were enough to be considered 'master keys': the king's signet ring and one that was still unlocated within the tower. The difference between them was that the king's ring could open any door that had been opened before, but not those that hadn't been opened. "My mind was still piecing together the immense load of information and left me unable to remember something simple like my ring is a key."