But also with the Next Gen for TW3 being out (I’ve updated, playing it whilst I work right now, it’s beautiful but the FPS is taking serious hits) that does have me a little bit more excited. Sad that we’ll have to wait for all the modders to catch up though.

@monstriiss

Zelda sat upon the pile of hay with the fur of her cloak tucked tightly around her neck. It was a horribly cold night, but she had slept in worse places. At least the barn gave them shelter from the rain and wind, and the hay would provide enough padding that she would not wake up with an aching back.

Philippa knew this conversation was long overdue, but she couldn’t find it in herself to bring it on, not when the monarch looked already so dejected, so repulsed by the idea. Philippa understands, really —- she’s felt the same way for long now; they only have two big differences at this point. One, the sorceress has no problem in faking her way with someone to get to what she wants, and two, the most important one: she does not have any obligations in lying with one, unlike Zelda. They just need to find a good suitor, that’s all — one that does not elict in her such a visceral reaction. 

She only nods at the request, despite Zelda giving her back to her. That, she can do her best to make sure it’s accomplished. Quick and painless, to the best of her abilities. She only waits in silence when the other turns, letting her speak. She purses her lips. She’s fairly sure she knows what she’s about to be asked, and she’s already trying to come up with an answer in her head, even before the Kynge’s done speaking. Is it possible? Technically, no one has never said it is not possible. There’s been rumors, even, of elven Sages — she exhales loudly from her nose. “What you’re asking me — Zelda. Even if, and there’s a big if, I could do something to work around this little problem of yours, I couldn’t be sure of the outcome.” She steps closer, so close that her chest brushes against Zelda’s arm. She takes her hand in her own, stroking her thumb gently over her knuckles. “I can’t take such risks, not without a confirmation that everything will be alright. I will not take such risks.” I won’t lose you. Not for a small issue as this one. Please, understand what you’re asking of me. “You’re asking me to dabble in a type of magic so few have ever performed, I —- I wouldn’t be sure about your survival, let alone the child’s.” Though, she sighs. Ah, the things you do for love. “I’ll take a look at a couple of books. I’ll need to do some research, if you really think there’s no other way, but I will not promise you anything.”

Philippa's touch was as light as air, and soothed the king's agonies like a salve to a burn. Some of the anxiety slipped from her face and soon enough her frustration turned to fondness. Zelda placed her hand over the top of Philippa's and cradled it. There were not many people who could touch their king the way that Philippa Eilhart could. “I trust you,” said Zelda softly. I trust you. With my life. With the future of my kingdom. The way she gazed at her advisor was almost fawn-like; so dotingly, so worshipfully, and so foolishly. It was a dangerous display of affection that, had anyone else walked in then and seen it, would have caused them great trouble. 

As close as they already stood to one another, she leaned closer still. “I was not sure,” she began, her voice uncertain. “I’ve thought about this for a while now. Months. I wanted to know more about whether it would be possible, or if it had even been done before.” Zelda hesitated, and her eyes fell to their clasped hands. Philippa’s flesh was so white against her own. She spent so much of her time outside. “I already had Thorley Greye look into it for me. Or, well, look into it as much as a retired sea captain can look into such things.” 

Greye was not a sorcerer. Certainly he did not possess the same knowledge as Philippa did, but he had his ways; his connections. She did not think he would let her down. “He believes we could find out more with the hill folk.” The Aen Seidhe. “He has already been in contact with some. Only a little. They make mention of the Aen Elle.” All that Zelda knew about the Aen Elle was that they were the boogeymen of the Continent. She had never even met one, she was not sure she ever wanted to, but if anyone would know of such a thing as magicking babies out of thin air then surely they would. “But Thorley can only do so much. I need you for this.”

In Temeria, as well as most other Northern kingdoms, gestures, clothing, and weapons are the transmitters of meanings, "signs" as defined by Augustine: "A sign is something which, in addition to its perceptibility to the senses, suggests another understanding derived from its own nature." That everything has, or could have, so much hidden meaning was not only the opinion of symbolically oriented theologians but also of their secular contemporaries. So in the area of human relations it was natural to allow symbols to speak: someone who knew how to interpret and employ them possessed a kind of education.

Zelda would have grasped this particular skill fairly early on in her life at court, being that she was surrounded by it. Gestures and objects were bound up together, a fact which allowed for a closer determination of the intention. Recognising its importance, and aware that there were many eyes analysing her every move, Zelda employed its uses in all public appearances, from what she wore to her conduct. This greatly appealed not just to the elite but to the laity, whose everyday lives were controlled by these unwritten "customs". She is not the only ruler to make use of symbols for monarchical propaganda, but arguably the best at utilising it.

One such widespread belief was that the position of "king" (or "queen") was divinely given, and that they represented the God, or Gods, in corporeal form: the Divine Right of Kings. Zelda's own personal beliefs on this is complicated, and oftentimes convoluted, but recognising the symbolic significance it held with the Clergy, the Courtly Sphere, and the "simple folk", her private thoughts were kept secret. She expressed her doubts in a pocket sized and plain-faced journal, which never left her side; in the wrong hands, the diary could not just (perhaps irreparably) damage her reputation, but weaken the foundations of the entire Temerian kingdom-- so closely bound is Kingship with Divinity. 

People were accustomed to believing what was shown them and what they heard; only rarely were they conscious of a rift between reality and appearance. Alongside Zelda’s efforts to achieve an almost fantastical reputation as monarch of Temeria, in an era that was later deemed The Golden Ages, it cannot be ignored that the good fortune which followed directly after her coronation would have played a large part in this widespread perception too.