Divination ~wlw~

Chapter One - The Quest

    Any other day Moira would have been thrilled to spot a warrior participating in voluntary sword practice as the sky warmed to the coming morning, however her mood was crushed like the rubble beneath her feet as she obligatorily headed toward the armoury.

    She walked past the Princess with little more than some brief eye contact to acknowledge her presence; she would hardly get away with treating the beloved Princess of this kingdom with such impudence if it was not for her family's nobility status. Rather, Moira believed she would be lucky to walk away with her life knowing the Princess' strict disposition, not a single thing in that woman's life could be strewn or out of place.

    Moira's mother is the General of the Astral Kingdom, therefore – though there are limits – Moira enjoys stretching her bestowed privileges and has since she was young. Princess Yvaine's aloof attitude always seemed to unnerve Moira, which is why as she carefully selects the weaponry necessary for her upcoming quest, Moira tries her hardest to ignore the obnoxious presence beside her.

    Indeed, Moira does make an attempt to dissuade her eyes from watching Princess Yvaine's blade glide through the air, though it was much harder than it seemed. Elegance was too simple a word to describe the way Yvaine practised with her weapon, it was as if she was a dancer – adorned with bells upon her ankles, a ribbon in hand – performing not for the many eyes watching, but simply because she seemed to be one with the flowing wind.

     Irritated by her traitorous eyes, Moira holsters her sword making a mental note of the items she now needs to acquire from the adorning rooms. The quests were fickle, as Moira and her group would not be made aware of the said quest's goal until after they had already been rounded up by the king and sent off with a scroll.

     Moira could complain on and on about these quests as people in the kingdom often did, however she regretfully had to admit that the quest was a more appealing option to most compared to the old taxes.

    To explain it as simply as possible, the quests had been implemented over a decade ago by the royal treasurer as a way to aid those in the lower class. The Astral Kingdom had previously suffered from a horrible classism system, and though it has not been completely abolished, Moira could admit that it had been plenty worse beforehand.

    Well at least she could assume that based on what she has been told by her elders, as Moira had only been eight years old at the time of its implementation. Moira was also humble enough to admit that the previous taxes and classism had little effect on her family and childhood, though she had witnessed other lesser off children her age suffering by the hands of her noble peers.

    Rather than continue to allow the heavy taxing of the lower class, the quests were first offered up as an alternative. If you wished to be absolved of the responsibility of paying tax, anyone aged between fourteen and twenty-one could participate in a quest once a month. These quests were allocated to groups of six, usually chosen based on age group, and were something simple enough given the group's abilities.

    For the younger groups, something as simple as herding up wild sheep and bringing them to the community farms was enough of a task. Other times the King would appoint a group the task of retrieving goods from another kingdom, hunting for a specific beast that had been terrorising a local farm, or other simple enough tasks.

    Due to this, quests became majorly preferred by the kingdom compared to taxes. So eventually the tax had been completely replaced by these quests, much to the nobility's dismay who had little trouble caused by the previous tax system. Unfortunately for them, King Altair was a fair and noble king, he dreamed of a utopia for all. A pity it was to believe such delusions.