RE Azoun IV’s reign. May we get a clear picture of a noble heir being Presented To The King?
I know of glimpses, Cormyr for example (“Moderation, my leige?” 😂💖)
But I’m not aware of a detailed scene.
Related tangent, how formalised was any / “Young person of importance” coming out/being presented at court (which is the more typical phrasing in later 1350s?) – a fate that awaited/awaits most/all the children of any “family of significance”, as opposed to Presented to King which is just heir apparents, yes?— 🌈Jaye🦄Em🌹Edgecliff🏳️🌈 (@jayeedgecliff) March 14, 2019
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Hi! During Azoun’s reign, “being presented at Court” is indeed the correct phrase in Cormyr. The same process applied to everyone of noble birth, not just heirs, and was twofold. Young person, when THEY feel ready (unless…#Realmslore 2)
…they pass their 22nd birthday without doing this, whereupon an envoy escorted by a Highknight and a War Wizard will come to them, to enquire why), will request an audience. Usually the request is conveyed through a parent…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 15, 2019
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…(or older relative than the young person, if death or ill health prevents a parent doing so), and the parent accompanies them to Court.
Where they have a private meeting with a clerk of the Court (again, backed by a… #Realmslore 4)
…Highknight and a War Wizard, plus a second hidden War Wizard who’ll use magic to detect falsehoods when they want to) about their personal aims, interests/hobbies, what they’d like to see change in the realm, what they like…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 15, 2019
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…and want to preserve unchanged in the realm, and where they see their own life heading over the next two decades. This meeting takes place in the Royal Court building.
Then, later the same day, or the next day if the King is… 6)
…really busy (if the King is away, the first appointment won’t be made until he is), they have a private audience with the King (who is protected via spells, including a wall of force if need be, by Vangey or Laspeera or…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 15, 2019
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…another of the most senior War Wizards, in adjacent hiding (in a chamber linked via a secret door and spyholes with the audience chamber; there are six suitable small audience chambers in the Palace, which is where THIS…#Realmslore 8)
…meeting takes place. Azoun just wants to share some wine or tea and biscuits or “smallbites” (canapes) with the young person and get to know them; he’ll be friendly and informal, but try to learn enough of their true…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 15, 2019
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…character to take his measure of them. Ideally, he wants this “moot” to end with the young person regarding their King as a friend.
In all cases, if the King is unavailable for extended periods (this befell very rarely), …#Realmslore 10)
…Queen Filfaeril stood in for him.
After this “real” presentation happens, the young person will receive a formal written invitation from an older noble, usually of another gender and almost always of a clear generation… #Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 15, 2019
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…older, to be “on their arm” at the next dance, ball, or revel that the King and Vangey deem suitable (i.e. NOT one where a delegation from another country is being entertained upon THEIR first arrival). The older noble…#Realmslore 12)
…escorts them and introduces them, and may act as their ‘date’ for the rest of the evening if the young person desires it (usually only if they’re really shy), and is also responsible for seeing them safely home/back to…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 15, 2019
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…their Suzailan lodgings, and for pulling them aside to privately explain any faux pas; War Wizards and Highknights, NOT in uniform, will be among the revelers and never far from the young person, because they are in fact…#Realmslore 14)
…tasked with spying on the young person to overhear who they talk to, what they say, and to take their own measures of the young person (intel that goes back to Vangey, who will pass it on to Fee and Azoun if he thinks it…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 15, 2019
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…best). And Vangey will decide if the young person is a “peril” to the realm or someone who might be an asset if recruited to Crown service in some capacity, and will assign undercover agents to befriend and ‘steer’ either…#Realmslore 16)
…sort of young person, in the years ahead, to either NOT being a peril or into doing something they can be arrested for, or towards a recruitment meeting when the time is right (when the young person is ready for acceptance).#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 15, 2019
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And there you have it. :}
[P.S. In #4 above, in early days, mind-reaming might occur if War Wizards grew suspicious.]#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 15, 2019