It's December in Valmeridia, and before the princedom celebrates the end of the year in style, there's still plenty to do.
This is a perfect time to strengthen old alliances and seek new ones, as business, like the season, is taking its time.

This time, Silva has ventured quite far from the charming lands of her princedom.
The vixen has left the lush landscapes behind and taken to the skies, driven by the cool winds southward,
where the land gives way to the sea for several kilometers before walking ground can be seen again.
When the enchantress finally decides to land, she can see with her emerald eyes that she's in a place far more technologically advanced than the kingdoms she is usually accustomed to.
Not that this surprises or worries her in the least.
She knows full well that more advanced technology, while likely a sign of greater military power, doesn't necessarily imply greater tactical expertise.
"Swift-Wings…" the vixen whispers, quickly checking a map she pulls from the sleeve of her gown.

Atop an immense cliff, a fortress with great stone towers dominates the ocean.
Silva knows very little about it, as the rumors she's heard are rather sparse.
But if the little that arrived to her ears is true, it might be worth a try.
Floating in the wind like a feather, the vixen easily reaches a wooden platform on the outskirts of the fortress.
And from there… Oh, so majestic.

It's difficult for her to describe what it is, since in her lands, one flies either through magic or on the back of a beast capable of doing so.
It looks like a giant balloon, with some sort of gigantic room attached to it.
Yes, she has read about it, and more or less knows the reasoning behind how it works.
But seeing it in front of her is something else entirely.
Hiding her amazement, Silva takes to the air again, while watchful eyes —and a few weapons pointed at her— follow her flight as she gets closer to the Skyship.

She doesn't wait for it to land, but approaches the entrance anyway. And she's quick to display the Valmeridia coat of arms.
Whether they knew her princedom or not, anyone with such a high level of technology would have been careful not to blindly strike her before asking for explanations.
And indeed, it doesn't take long before she's asked to introduce herself and, above all, to show her hands.
She sniffs the air at this request, thinking that if she'd wanted to cause damage, that immense hot air balloon would already be engulfed in her purple flames.
However, she understands that for populations accustomed to fighting with technological weapons,
the primary concern isn't whether the person they're facing uses magic, but whether they possess weapons with similar technology to their own.

And Silva has none of this on. She carefully reveals her clothes, continuing to float gracefully in the sky as if nothing had happened.
A sight like this apparently finally catches the attention of the person she's visiting.
A dark beak peeks out from an open window, and with just a few gestures, the weapons aimed at Silva disappear back into the Skyship.

The airship approaches the platform until it lands, and Silva rests her paws right in front of its entrance.
Markos, the crow she's come to speak with, gives her a cold greeting before asking her again what she's doing there.
And Silva promptly responds, not only offering the tepid promise of an alliance,
but also producing an iridescent crystal from beneath her robes, which she tosses to one of the guards for a look.
The crystal stops just before hitting the guard, floating in the air. Could that be what allowed her to fly?
Just before the guard has a chance to touch it, the crow finally seems to change its tone and invites her in.
Good… First part of the plan, successful.

She is invited to follow him, to a room where they can talk calmly. Yes, this Markos is definitely astute.
Who knows, perhaps he might even have sensed that it won't cost him anything to hear what she has to say,
and that it'll be paradoxically easier for him to keep an eye on her in an enclosed space like a room, rather than out there.
Smooth yet extraordinarily composed, Silva Vernalis sings the praises of her prince and introduces herself to Markos once again as the bearer of gifts.
Yes, now that they are alone, she doesn't hide the fact that she is a witch, and before the sides of Markos's beak can curl in a faint smile, she raises a claw and releases a small dancing light.

Those people have clearly never encountered true magic, and it shows.
Well, now that she has the curiosity of her interlocutor...
Silva sits down and talks to the raven, whose face is serious yet hints of perplexity.
Unfortunately, to meet him she had to take a gamble. Since she didn't have much information about him, being direct, she thought, was the only way.

And so, with Markos unrolling the map of the kingdom of Vallerane to figure out how far it is from Valmeridia, Silva begins to describe the route she took to get there.
From now on, everything will be like a game of chess. Unfortunately, some diplomatic agreements don't end in just an alliance or nothing.
Sometimes things can go very, very badly. But, and of this she is certain, the glimmer in the corvid's good eye seems to suggest that at least violence can be avoided.

And so Silva converses amiably with her interlocutor, occasionally steering the conversation toward the matter that most concerns her.
Only fate will tell whether it all materializes into something positive, or whether she'll have to truly use her magic.
As Sir Cordiale would say if he were there: come what may~