The Magnaura

[_Tristan_]

Espying the Grandmaster of the Order of St John at the other side of the Senate, Methodios respectfully inclines his head when the Grandmaster's gaze passes over him.

Noticing that there is ample room left nearer to the Basileus dais, Methodios finds a seat on the benches nearest to the Throne.

[Privateerkev]

Makedonios sees one of the Strators he has been in correspondence with and gives Methodios a friendly nod in return. He then leans in to hear Vissarionas's reply.

[BananaBob]

Nathanail ek Korinthou walks into the Magnaura, and seeing the gathering of the Order of St.John, proceeds to sit down amongst them at the table. He wears a long white tunic underneath a robe decorated with the insignia of the Order of St.John.

[Smowz]

A shy and curious young man enters the Magnaura wearing plain looking robes, fumbling his authentication papers under his arm Nevoulos ek Philadelphias looks around hoping to find someone he recognizes... He sees some of the retainers if Hypatios of the Asteri sorting some papers to one side and rushes over enthusiastically.

They shoo him away rather embarrassedly, he realises he is not on the battlefield or in the company of his bodygaurd here and he must act as a nobleman.

Nevoulos curiously eyes the men who have the insignia of the Order of St.John and catches the eye of the Grandmaster and admires the magnificence and peacefulness of the man in such a grand setting. He begins to veer to sit somewhere near them and realises that he should sit somewhere near the representatives of his house toward the other side of the great political theatre.

He moves as regally as he can manage over to that side and rather over majestically sits on the stone seats two rows back from where he suspects the house's leader may sit.

He realises he has not much to do but wait and decides he must be seen to be doing something and gets out calls in one of his two servents to fetch him some parchments to read and write on.

[Cecil XIX]

Armatos walks into the Magnaura, but stops at the doorway in surprise at how quiet things are. After a few minutes of waiting or someone to speak, he dejectedly departs.

[flyd]

Markianos Ampelas enters the Magnaura neatly dressed in clean clothes. He takes a seat without minding too much where it is, bows his head, closes his eyes, and presses with his fingers upon the bridge of his nose, as if nursing the most horrendous headache.

[AussieGiant]

A tall slender and solemn young man enters the Magnaura. He's wearing the blue silk cloak of the Saracen Mansuriyya regiment embroidered with inscriptions from the Koran. Black bands of cloth on his upper arms display his name and rank, that of an officer of one of the Sultan’s Egyptian Slave regiments. His deeply tanned face is set in a stony and unreadable expression.

That gaze falls upon a court official rapidly approaching with two burley guards in tow. The short agitated man begins speaking excitedly in rapid fire Greek, pointing to the door and gesturing for the man to leave.

With a slow even motion the Saracen Officer reaches into his red scale armoured tunic and produces a number of documents, both guards tense momentarily and even the official stops talking momentarily as a horrifying thought of violence crosses his mind.

A moment passes as the official looks at the documents held in front of him, finally he snatches the papers and begins to read. After no more than a minute he hands back the papers and hisses out a series of instructions to the young officer calmly standing before him. At last the official finishes his tirade and the young officer inclined his head in agreement and moves to the back of the room to stand against the wall and watch.

[Ramses II CP]

Makedonios sees one of the Strators he has been in correspondence with and gives Methodios a friendly nod in return. He then leans in to hear Vissarionas's reply.

Vissarionas ek Lesvou speaks quietly in the Grandmaster's ear.

M'lord as I understood the proceedings the blue team did exceptionally well in that their charioteer won the race despite having broken his wheel in the middle! It was a remarkable feat. My own red team's man made an, err, small contribution as well by heading off the pursuit and taking third place. Quite a pleasant experience, and I managed to collect an errand boy that I suspect will be quite useful. He is named for the Archangel Raphael! I will speak more of him later.

With a quick nod Vissarionas then tries to follow the further conversations erupting in the chamber.

[Privateerkev]

Makedonios sees Nathanail walk in and he waves him over. The new sergeant walks over and joins the Order's table.

It seems few people wish to pre-empt the Emperor's right to speak first and dictate the tone of the session. Most people are just walking in and attempting to make a good impression. People are sizing each other up.

With a soldier's gaze, Makedonios keeps an eye on everyone without it being obvious. He notices Nevoulos, another noble he has sent a letter to, look in his direction. The Comes smiles and gives the noble a friendly nod. He notices his friend Armatos walk in, see nothing happening, and leave.

Looking over at his fellow land-owner Markianos, Makedonios is happy that he swore off alcohol. The entry of Apionnas Vringas got Makedonios's attention. As someone who read books on the Holy Land, he knew what the Strator's silk cloak meant. The Grandmaster was sad that Apionnas had to go through such an ordeal but happy that the young noble was obviously free.

Michail attempted to start the proceedings early but Markianos put an end to it. Makedonios just sat back and watched to see how people would handle the situation.

And then Anastasios walked in. Makedonios had done some research on the senators and knew who the man was. His cruelty was well known and for some reason, he was able to get a conversation with Anna. The feeling of jealousy came back and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Anastasios staring at him. He decided it was best to just ignore it. There were far more important matters at hand.

The Grandmaster was brought back to the present when Vissarionas finally answered him about his question regarding the races. Makedonios's eyes lit up when he heard how the Blue team did. But knowing the races could be a contentious topic in the Senate, he kept his voice low when he talked to his youngest sergeant.

I'm glad to hear Kaspax won. And please tell me about the boy you found when you get the chance.

[ULC]

Iakovos rushes into the Magnaura, perspiration on his brow, his clothes slightly disheveled. He spies Makedonios and Vissarionas at the Order's table and rushes over to them and takes a seat. "I'm am terribly sorry M'lord Makedonios, I had worn myself ragged last night reading. I am afraid we we will have to acquire more candles." Iakovos finally takes a breath, and takes a look around him. "I have not missed anything of importance, have I?"

[Privateerkev]

Pleased to see another of his sergeants, Makedonios waves Iakovos to come sit. He leans over and speaks softly.

You haven't missed much. It's only proper for the Basileus to speak first and set the tone and direction for the session. So mostly, people have simply filed in, taken their seats, and talked softly amongst themselves.

[Ignoramus]

Ioannis Komenos, clearly sick of the silence rises to his feet and begins to address the senators.

In the absence of my father, I shall raise some important concerns.

Senators, I call upon every one of you to publicly swear your allegience to my father, Aleksios Komnenos, Basileus of Rome! Should you not do so, I need not tell you what my father's actions will be.

You have seen how mistrust and intrigue have brought our empire to the verge of destruction. Therefore, lay aside your scheming ambitions, and serve my father faithfully. In turn, you shall have your reward.

The Caesar sits down, with silence greeting his words.

[Cecil XIX]

I, Armatos ek Naksou, swear absolute fealty to Basileus Alexius I Komnenos!