The Morning Report

[Clopin]

January 1st, Year 1

As the sun began to rise, so did the king. With a yawn, he rolled out of bed, seeing both Dante and Virgil posted by the door to his bedroom. He couldn’t help but smile at how stoically they were standing, as changed into his clothes, and donned his royal purple cloak, lined with ermine fur, and trimmed with gold. He refused to wear his crown; for him, it was much too heavy, and his hat did the job just as well.

He was a man of the people, after all. The king made his way down into Paris, preferring to take a horse as opposed to a carriage. As much as he loved the fancy trappings of truly royal life, Clopin didn’t want to advertise just how rich he truly was, simply because his enemies were hiding, and he knew they were waiting for the opportunity to pounce.

Followed by Dante and Virgil, Clopin made his way back to the only place he truly felt at home: the Court of Miracles. Using the money he’d come into as a result of becoming the king of France, he had managed to commission a building just as great as the Palace of Justice, for his people to enjoy. They no longer had to live a subterranean life, shunned by society. He made his way into the grand building, and came to stop at his chair, where he held his own court. It sat off to the side when the gallows were being used, but since there was no current good “noose”, the chair now sat in the dead center. Clopin stood in front of the chair, and gestured grandly to his army below.

“Mes amis, welcome! For those of you who have just joined us, feel free to familiarize yourself with your new home! Here in Paris, you will have everything available to you. I am Clopin, leader of the Rogues, and king of France. “ Clopin said, with a bow.

“Do not let the titles fool you!” Clopin said, his shrill voice carrying throughout the crowd.

“As my people will tell you, I care deeply for them, and I shall care deeply for you. You are free to approach me at any time.” Clopin said, gesturing to himself. He bowed one final time, before taking a seat.

“Are there any questions?” he asked, interlocking his gloved hands to rest his chin on.

[Deleted]

He was out of his element. Everything about this situation labeled him as out of his element, there was chattering all around. Loud whoops and shouts coming from random beings all settled across the room, it was too loud for his old nerves and the old jungle king gritted his teeth in irritation. Why had he thought joining up with these jokers, fools, and what have you's was a good idea? He wasn't sure but something had brought him there. The sound of footsteps carrying across the floor, however, caught his attention, solid single golden hue fixating on the source of the noise and watching the King carry himself to his throne. Two canides followed in close pursuit, obviously the King's guards. It wasn't a new sight for him, he had been there a few days longer than the rest and had already been assigned a rank, but he had still not grown used to such a thing.

Long black, white, and orange ringed tail curled before thudding loudly against his perch. Settled on one of the many tables scattered around as if to give himself a better view of his surroundings. As the King introduced himself and addressed the court, Shere Khan turned his disgruntled gaze away from the other. He wasn't sure what to make of the King yet, he held his judgment for now. Despite the fact he already disliked humans, he was trying his best to push by past reinforced judgments but it was hard.

This whole situation was hard, rooted from his home and placed in the center of a man-made town. It was no place for him but he would deal with it in the only way he could, with a scowl and moving forward without a word.

[Deleted]

Gurri could hardly focus on the king now that Shere Khan had arrived, and she struggled to quell the primal urge to run. Gurri hailed from Böhmerwald, which was well over six thousand kilometers away from Shere Khan's country. The tiny roe deer fawn would not know what a tiger is, but it did not take Friend Owl to tell that Shere Khan was a carnivore. It was already a huge adjustment on her part to live with He and his subservient hounds. But a colossal predator whose diet most likely included her distant cousins? Gurri was beginning to regret her decision to join the Rogues.

Too late now. All she could do was hope that Clopin did not assign the tiger to be her mentor.

[Esmeralda]

Esmeralda mingled idly with a few of the Rogues, making herself familiar with them. She mentally logged names with faces, and kept short mental notes of their stories. Esmeralda just had a habit of having mental dossiers of people, just in case. In case of what? Who knows. But better to be prepared as much as possible.

She liked being casual, not informing anyone of her station, or relation to the king. Some knew her already, but the more first impressions she got from people with out that knowledge, the better. Besides, its kind of annoying having people trying to ingratiate themselves with her.

When her brother, Clopin the king of France, entered, she politely excused herself from her current conversation. and approached his throne. She stood to the side and idly scratched Dante behind the ears affectionately.

"Hey boys," she greeted the trio quietly so as not to interrupt the proceedings too much.

[Jenn]

Brown eyes scanned the room before her. Quite a crowd had formed already, some had been there for a few days, others only just arrived, but they were all gathered for the same reason.

Jenn and Hades both had only arrived a few days before, having traveled all the way from Greece. Something about the thought of new adventures and experiences drew her away from the land she'd claimed as her home, to France, to the Rouges army.
Hades meanwhile had tagged along for his own reasons.

Her feathers ruffled as she stood at one side of the room, her gaze falling on a man clad in purple, and two dogs at his heels. She hadn't personally met the leader yet, but she'd heard word of the man. She listened silently as he spoke to the crowd, it was difficult to say at the moment, but it seemed like he had a good head on his shoulders when it came to leading an army. That was good, there was not much worry about following a faulty leader then.

Many of the army seemed to murmur among themselves when asked if they had questions, but nobody seemed to want to speak up first. Seeing this, Jenn stepped forward from the wall she'd been leaning against, flexing her wings slightly as she walked forward.
"I'm sure many of us have traveled far from home, myself included. We're in a foreign land that's quite different from our own. It may take some time getting adjusted to such a change. Is there anything we should be immediately concerned about?"

[Clopin]

The king watched as some of his Rogues began to pour into the hall, assisted by some of his gypsies if they needed guidance. As he peered out over the crowd, some faces looked confused, and others looked excited, but cautious. He drew a breath, mentally preparing himself for any and all questions.

Esme came to his side, and after a quick greeting to him and Dante, she stood quietly, waiting for the first question to come forth. Somewhere in the back, a strange girl with purple hair came forward, her voice carrying over the others in front of her.

"I'm sure many of us have traveled far from home, myself included. We're in a foreign land that's quite different from our own. It may take some time getting adjusted to such a change. Is there anything we should be immediately concerned about?"

Ah yes. He had been expecting a question like this to come up sooner or later. Clopin simply shook his head from side to side, sitting up a little bit straighter in his chair.

“As long as I am King of this realm, there is nothing to be concerned about, aside from our enemies in the war. As for familiarizing yourselves with your new environment, I am always willing to help, but in the event I cannot, Esmeralda, Dante, and Virgil can certainly be your guides.” Clopin announced.

[Deleted]

Large hulking form seemed still among the many men, women, and creatures of the court. Singular gold hue peering up as Clopin continued to speak, he still did not find himself impressed but didn't seem to voice either. The small panicked breaths of another warranted his attention and he could feel himself looking over slowly to the fawn. She was trying to keep her breathing steady, but he could scent the fear on her. The wide eyes was another clear tip-off as he looked over at her fully. His long tail slowly curled once more and his gaze narrowed.

The temptation to take chase was great, but he was not here to make a meal of his 'comrades.' Teeth parted, and a low grumbling sound that resembled a growl exited his throat. "Calm your nerves, fawn. If I was going to eat you," His teeth seemed to bare a little more. "I would have done it already." The rumbling in his throat seemed to die after a moment, turning his head back to Clopin.

"Introductions are all good and well," His voice seemed to rise in volume to challenge the chittering of the armies voices. "But how about we get to the interesting part, King Clopin. When do we deal with these Blackbloods and Freedom Fighters?"

[Merida]

Merida poised herself a comfortable position within the crowds, a slight vantage point due to her quick wit. She sat with her back to the wall, most of the creatures and characters within her range and sight- just how she liked it. For once, she wasn't in the spotlight- something she dreaded back within her homelands of Scotland, many treks and boats away. She held her bow slung across her back along with her quiver and arsenal of bows.

The weapon that could soon be within her grasp brought her much comfort as she eyed around at the other being lining the room. Her oceanic blue eyes scoured across the expanse, washing over the King and his.. subjects, aswell as the beast that was a tiger, the small and seemingly fragile doe, and others.


She pondered her own part within this fine bunch, and raised her head the moment the Jungle Cat had spoken up. She inwardly agreed with his own curiosity, but wouldn't speak up as to deter any attention away from the question that lie at hand.

[Clopin]

“I was just about to move on to that very subject, mon ami.” Clopin said, with a smirk. For some strange reason, he had started to take a liking to the grizzled tiger, and he set aside a small note for himself to keep an eye on Shere Khan.

“As far as my personal scouts have seen, the other two armies have been rather silent, which is never a good sign. I can only assume that they are hard at work training for an attack, and as Rogues, we must also be prepared.”

The gypsy king paused for a brief moment, before pulling out a scroll, seemingly from thin air. He tossed the thin ribbon that kept it together with a bit of flair, and unraveled the paper, looking down among the recruits below.

“We are cunning and elusive, able to slip in and out of shadows, and we pass anywhere across the field of battle without fear, appearing only to make a lethal strike. This is who we are, as Rogues. And this is what we must be.” Clopin said, as he handed the scroll to Dante, who gingerly grabbed it with his teeth.

“Training starts tomorrow, here in the Court. It will be a test of your skills. We will attack them before they even have the chance to attack us.”

[Varian]

Anywhere was better than Corona, and he was lucky that in many ways this place was not all that different from the kingdom he'd escaped from. He was used to the way these sorts of places worked, the concept of a king or a queen were fairly common, so while he wasn't entirely confident in the stability of a group that called themselves 'Rogues', he was glad that at least he didn't find himself foisted in a place that he didn't understand.

But this was still a strange situation, which became ridiculously evident as he filed in and found a place enough away from the large group to get a good read on just what exactly he was dealing with. He wasn't ignorant to the existence of magic, but he'd always hated it, he was calculating, scientific, and seeing talking animals and winged ladies defied everything he knew about science, it was really annoying.

He side eyed Rudiger, perched on his shoulder, and gave a soft snort. He wasn't entirely eager to put his full trust into this so-called king, he'd had enough of monarchies and the way they treated their subjects, if this man wanted to prove that he was someone to be respected and trusted, it would be through his actions, and not whatever titles he gave himself.

While he was speaking, Varian had taken it upon himself to shoulder his way through the crowd until he was closer to the front, closer to where he could give the man a closer scrutinizing when he addressed him. He gave him a critical look, eyeing him up and down, "why should we trust you? You're asking people to put their lives in your hands, why should we trust you not to throw them away?" He crossed his arms and stared up at him with a somewhat petulant expression, watching his face carefully.