Private Finished [AGoDR] At the steps of the throne

Cornelius Choróin

He sat upon a fallen log, having called a few of the competitors to that location at the time. There were, unsurprisingly, quite a few people with perfect scores in the tournament. Hopefully, it would be up to them who would win the ultimate prize. If not, Cornelius had to admit that he did not care much for what would happen after.

There was not a lot around that reflected on the magnitude of the situation. Besides his log, the area was clear, set up next to a small grove of trees. The grass was dewy in the early morning light, perhaps too early for some but for once, Cornelius had decided to be selfish and not so accommodating to others. Patiently, perhaps even a bit anxiously, he waited for the first of the competitors to arrive.

Cornelius Choróin

He nodded at each person in greeting, a blank expression on his face. There were probably more appropriate ways to say what he was going to tell them all but social nuisances had always gone over his head. Best to get it over as quickly as possible.

"As you might have noticed," he said, "all of you gathered here have perfect win ratios." Cornelius turned to Angelo first. "Yours, however, receives precedent based off of the number of wins you achieved." This sounded vaguely but not completely like congratulations.

"Now for the heart of the matter. The main prize." Cornelius exhaled. Still looking towards Angelo, he remarked, "You seem to have bonded well with your Regalia, however few you obtained. It is considered a good trait in one's leaders to be able to make peace with many different personalities. It is a trait which I lack." There was no point in beating around the bush. The truth was the truth.

"The main objective of this tournament was to find if anybody among the mortal world would be suitable enough to lead our species. If not you," he said to Angelo, his gaze intense, "then the opportunity will be passed to the others. Should you all pass on it, well, then. I suppose I will have to ascend the throne in place of my parents, unless I can convince them to allow my older brother to return. You might have met him at some point. Claudius. One of the proctors. " He was void of emotion as he said this but at the same time...

"Neither of us are particularly good candidates for the throne." Cornelius was also not above guilt-tripping. "If you have any care for the Regalia you have come to befriend, I would strongly suggest considering it."

Cornelius Choróin

Oh. Well. At least they were intelligent enough to see past all the theatrics. Cornelius simply wrote Angelo off as a loss, shrugging at the man placidly. All of his points were, of course, correct. The issue was that Cornelius had passed the point of caring maybe a century or two ago.

"That is awfully greedy," he addressed Shale and Jaxon, perfectly mild. "You had many opportunities to gain new powers throughout this tournament -I would have let you keep them even if you had simply walked away and never participated. As some people did. In any case, in a way, you did compete for new abilities. Regalia ones. The person who becomes the species's next leader must become one of us."

To Augustus, Cornelius said, "I would be glad if you would kindly take up this position. My only question is if you would rather do so immediately or after some time. Depending on your species, you might have to first temporarily depart the physical realm to do so. It is a trivial task to convert spirits who already have the idea planted in their heads."