Goriel and beyond, part 2

As we play, occasionally we'll close a thread and open a new one to keep the size of threads (and relative complexity) down to a dull roar. Here's where we store the closed posts from the history of Errant Road.
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Drannin
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Re: Goriel and beyond, part 2

Post by Drannin »

<"You have an idea?"> Argus thought at Rose, and got an affirmative answer. He nodded, carefully looking over Kirassia, as though appraising her. "Yes. I have business to attend to," he said with flat disinterest. Which was technically true. Learning the ins and outs of politics here was going to be damned essential, it seemed.
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Re: Goriel and beyond, part 2

Post by Alberich »

Kirassia's silence was more meek than her eyes, but if Rose ever tried to "read" her with Empathy, she'd find her one of the hardest reads of her career. It was as if she had spent a lifetime concealing her true feelings about anything, wearing a mask that might be of silk, of stone, or of gold. On the surface, at least, she was obedient. She slipped over behind Rose on tiny feet, ready to follow and be instructed.

Tim stayed by Eli, his own face impassive, concealing a sense of foreboding. He understood that the Church sometimes made a home for fallen women, once they saw the error of their ways and had no one else to turn to. But he had no liking for the idea of playing host to this unrepentant foreign whore-slave-whatever -- whom they would not be allowed to rescue even if she wished it. Not being privy to the mindspeech of Rose and Lillith, he could only wonder what new pranks Rose and Harker might dream up if the wine flowed too freely. He resolved to trust no cup from their hands. In the light of day, even the dark magic he was learning from Eli seemed safer. Oh, you are a clever advocate, boy. And will your sins cancel each other?
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Drusia
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Re: Goriel and beyond, part 2

Post by Drusia »

"Go with Irina," he said. "You'll be presented this evening."

"Yes, my lord," I say softly.

Irina Duravsky -- tall, golden-haired, quite buxom -- was in the lead, and seemed friendly: "Welcome! Yes, do come along with us, we've been dying to meet you and have to get you ready for tonight - and there's time for a bite and a bit of rest too..." -- so saying, she took Desiree by the right arm led her away.

Dina, the girl from Clan Gibazov, was easy to spot by her ruby choker. Valentina Yurkashev, had the broadest shoulders and strongest muscles of the four. All, at least to start with, were friendly, eager to coo over the new arrival and pepper her with questions and answers.


I am pleasantly surprised by my surroundings and reception. I wasn't sure if I should expect a harem, but it seems not - the simple but elegant zenana is quite pleasant. As is the company, which is fortunate as I was unsure how well I would be received by the others.

The answer appears to be very well. Particularly... Anfisa. She's being positively flirtatious. As I answer questions about traveling on an airship, which they find positively exotic, I carefully observe Irina's reactions to the way Anfisa keeps touching me. Irina seems... not to have noticed. So, either she isn't aware of the flirtatious messages that Anfisa is sending me, or she is politely not noticing. Either way, she doesn't seem disapproving - and it seems that here, her opinion matters.

"The view from the airship was breathtaking," I tell them. "I hope that all of you are lucky enough to be taken on such a journey someday - it is a wonderful experience." As I say so, I clasp Anfisa and Irina's hands. Irina's hand I release after a brief, friendly squeeze. Anfisa's hand I let mine linger on for just a second longer. When I pull my hand away, I let one of my fingers trail lower than the rest, tracing a small caresse across the back of her hand.

Anfisa blinks in surprise and looks up at me. I keep talking as if nothing happened. A slightly wondering expression crosses her face - unlike Irinia, Anfisa is practically an open book - but she looks pleased. Oh good. I may have found someone I can trust - a little anyway. And if I've also found a lover... well, neat.

However, at the moment that is the least of my concerns. I turn the topic of conversation to Arman Duravsky and my upcoming presentation. There is still plenty of time to prepare - and wash the street dust from me - for the moment I'd like some information.

"I imagine his lordship will wish to partake of me tonight," I say. "Since I am new here, tell me... is there anything he particularly enjoys? I wish to make the best first impression I am able to." No artfulness needed there - that is exactly what I need to know, for exactly the reason I need to know it.

-- Desiree
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Re: Goriel and beyond, part 2

Post by Alberich »

"Oh, no," said Irina, "In fact, His Lordship has not shared his bed with a getera since...well, since before any of us has been one."

Dina cut in - "They say he's loyal to his wife!" Anfisa, who had drawn a slight breath in at the trace of Desiree's finger - oh, I read her right, all right - shook her head once. "Don't be too sure. He's a hard man to read. But" -- her voice went down -- "you're safer away from him for sure." Well, the conversation naturally turned to why that should be so, and Irina let Anfisa tell the tale. The ladies' voices all went soft and their eyes wide, like children enthralled by a ghost story.

"They say, back when His Lordship took power, there was a great dispute over who would rule. And plenty of bloodshed, more than we've ever seen since. And men and women were killed - and others were outlawed - and some suffered the most dreadful fates he could imagine. And it never took him a second to imagine the cruelest fate there was for anyone he didn't trust. And he didn't trust anyone!

"No one was safe, they say, except for us geteroi. And that was just as it seemed.

"Well, there was this one getera named Drusilla, and they say she would look men in the face, and eat beside them at feasts!" - her tone suggested this was a great boldness indeed - "And she had more pretties and perfumes than all the other girls together - she didn't share them like us - she could even go out into the town alone to buy them! They said she had the men under an enchantment, even Lord Arman himself. And they could all have her according to the rules, but they wanted her heart, and no one could have it. And it seemed she could get away with anything.

"Well, someone enchanted her at last, but no one knows if it was love, or gold, or power - but they say she somehow got tangled up with Arman's enemies. Maybe even his brother Gyerman." -- Irina half-suppressed a wince at the mention of this man; best not to consider his fate, perhaps. Anfisa continued, "But whoever it was - she was in it. And she was caught, and Arman found out. And had her brought to the hall before him.

"Now in front of His Lordship, the bravest warriors had fallen on the floor, and cried and begged like whipped dogs or little girls - before they felt a single touch of the lash or cut of the knife. It was getting clearer and clearer that he had a strong hand, and meant to show it. So she was in front of him, and he was just looking at her, even smiling a little, and preparing to announce her doom.

"Drusilla - she wasn't afraid. Or she wasn't showing it! So she told him, 'My Lord, I have brought you and your court much honor, the greatest raptures you and your guests have known. For the sake of this, I ask to be treated according to my status.'

"'And with what mercy shall that be?' he asked." The storyteller's voice went down. "People piss themselves when he uses that word! - but she was as bold as the boldest, and she said, 'Let me live, and give me leave to go.' She was sure she'd be exiled, and make her way all over again.

"So he smiled twice as wide and said, 'Your boon is granted - provided only this, that you do not break the gift I shall give you to remember me by. For if you break it, it shall go hard with you.' And she agreed. And he had her presented with the gift, a large mirror inlaid with gold.

"And then he had his men hold her down, and draw out their knives, and slice her face to ribbons. And there was a healer, old Finn - he's dead now - and he had him heal the wounds, but he did it so she was hideous and could never be fixed. Then he put the mirror in her bedchamber, and left the door unlocked.

"She couldn't go out, for she wouldn't be seen. She couldn't send the servants to buy her things - no one dared speak to her. She couldn't go among the men, not with her face like that. And the mirror drove - her - mad!

"Finally, she smashed it, and when she realized what she'd done, and what Arman would do -- she grabbed a shard and slashed open every vein she could find. His Lordship showed her one mercy - he didn't have Finn revive her for the torture. He just let her bleed to death. They say, for him, that's like proof that he loved her. But from then on he'd just say in a mock-sad voice how tragic it was she had found so little joy in his continued hospitality and mercy.

"So - anyway - like I said - we don't get his attentions and we don't draw his attention - and we're all best off that way!"

When the mood had calmed, Irina added further information, that either His Lordship or, more often, the chamberlain would assign a new girl to someone of suitable status, with whom she would stay 'til reassigned. A new lady wouldn't start at the very top anyway, needing to build her reputation and all, and there were subtle matters of the man's honor, and his due. The conversation then turned to Desiree herself, and the place she had come from, and her clan, and how it all worked there -- so now it was up to her, to tell a cover story or to try to deflect the questions. Each course had its dangers.
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Re: Goriel and beyond, part 2

Post by Graybeard »

OOC in its entirety:
Alberich wrote:The conversation then turned to Desiree herself, and the place she had come from, and her clan, and how it all worked there -- so now it was up to her, to tell a cover story or to try to deflect the questions. Each course had its dangers.
Drusia pointed out to me in a side message that the characters would surely have been bright enough to have worked on this kind of cover story, having had, after all, quite a few hours on the airship to get it semi-straight. Of course, that cover story wouldn't have been developed with the geteroi in mind, since they had no idea that the geteroi existed let alone what their implications were, but there'd have been some cover story. Following the conversation with her, I'd say let's agree that we're from some large, fictitious city in the Northern Confederacy (got a name for that yet, D?), but I propose an open thread in the OOC Discussion forum to work on the "why" part, which is obviously important. I'll start that momentarily. Let's see what the characters have cooked up for us. ;)
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Drusia
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Re: Goriel and beyond, part 2

Post by Drusia »

"Well, there was this one getera named Drusilla..."

I don't let myself blink in surprise, but... huh. Mother sometimes goes by Drusilla when she's away from Snamish. I wonder if -

"And then he had his men hold her down, and draw out their knives, and slice her face to ribbons. And there was a healer, old Finn - he's dead now - and he had him heal the wounds, but he did it so she was hideous and could never be fixed. Then he put the mirror in her bedchamber, and left the door unlocked. -- she grabbed a shard and slashed open every vein she could find."

Oh. Apparently not then. And... yikes.

"So - anyway - like I said - we don't get his attentions and we don't draw his attention - and we're all best off that way!"

"I can see why," I say softly. They want to change the topic, and who can blame them. "That - the part about being loyal to his wife, I mean, reminds me a bit of my Master." I take a moment to describe Lord Argus Cleiviein to them - and his recent marriage to his second wife, Rose. I place the 'marriage' as taking place several months ago, when I first met Rose and Argus in Snamish, so I can keep my timeline consistant.

"I've hardly been called to perform any services for my Lord since his marriage," I say with a sigh, "He and Lady Rose are very taken with one another. I gave them both a massage last night. I hoped I might be called upon for more, but they sent me away and took pleasure in one another instead." My wistful look isn't feigned.

"Instead, I've been assigned to his lordship's guard captain, Eli." I don't let myself picture kind, funny Eli - instead, I describe him as he has been lately - angry, forceful, and scary. I tell him about him brutally slaying someone who offered me offense (and don't mention that the offense was kidnapping me - I wouldn't want to make Clan Cleiviein sound weak). I quietly describe the fierceness of his love-making, which I describe faithfully from a few nights ago when Eli was in that odd mood.

I tell them about Brad, young but trusted and capable advisor to patriarch Argus - so trusted that Argus awarded Brad with his eldest daughter as a wife.

I tell them about Clan Cleiviein's holdings in "Rakushi" (a reasonable sounding name for our fictional home city, and derived from Argus's real home, Tsuirakushiti) and about how our fairly minor clan rose to stature when Master Argus invested wisely in - what else - Airship construction. Of course, I tell them, that was all before my time - I was acquired when the clan reached it's current (wealthy and powerful) state. I had the story from one of the other Clan Cleiviein geteroi.

There. That should keep them occupied for the moment.

-- Desiree

OOC: Feel free to have the others ask questions based on any of the above. Desiree is willing to expand on things - including tales of her assignation to "Guard Captain Eli".

Edit: OOC: Oh, as for why we're here... Airship investors? ;)
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Re: Goriel and beyond, part 2

Post by Alberich »

The story seemed to satisfy them. None of these ladies was asking about the clan's business interests -- that, after all, was men's business. Dina, in a semi-forced giggly way, possibly trying to take her mind off the last tale, asked some pointed questions about Eli's sexual foibles. The conversation steered to "girl talk." In the course of which Desiree learned that the merchants of Goriel were not so well stocked as she might wish, and did not carry the exact scented oil she preferred. But attar of roses was available, as were several perfumes and ointments. With a little creativity she could find ways to enhance the charms of simple soap.

As Anfisa had mentioned during her story, the Duravsky geteroi shared pretty freely, and looked out for each other as best they were able. (No doubt there were limits to this, but Desiree wasn't in a position to test them just now. Perhaps the "every woman for herself" mentality had died with Drusilla.) Normally even geteroi did not go out shopping on their own, nor did they receive much cash if any -- handling currency was also men's business, at least at this level it was. Instead, it was Irina's task to inform the right people of what they needed, or if a man wished to provide a gift, he would send word through "channels." Dressmakers would come to the House if new clothes needed to be made, and on rare occasions a girl might go out to the merchants - under heavy escort of course.

[OOC: I'm quite fine with what Graybeard said; this just seemed like a good place to get the cover story out, just the way you did it, as an exposition. Probably a lot smarter than trying to put the ladies off.]
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Re: Goriel and beyond, part 2

Post by Graybeard »

"Thank you, my lord husband, for your faith in me," Sister Rose beamed, worrying (unnecessarily) that she was piling it on too thick. She turned to the girl with her. "Come. I'll explain the role you will play in our clan. First, however, let me make us some coffee." There; that should buy a little time.

If Kirassia was surprised at being led into the Veracian mission, she didn't show it. [OOC: The "why" of this might be one of the things we need to work out off-line, but Rose has thought some of that through... /OOC:] "These foreigners have extended us the use of some lodging," she explained, "not knowing what kind of reaction our party would get. My husband says he's delighted with that reaction, so we'll be moving to more comfortable arrangements soon --" Luminosita forgive me... "but it would be unthinkable to decline this hospitality once it was offered, so let's take advantage of it."

A few minutes later, hot cups of coffee were steaming in the two women's hands. Rose was pleased to note that Father Boris was playing his role well: there was a conspicuous guard force of junior priests and novices to make sure the "unescorted" women were safe, but their body language said they wanted nothing to do with these "heathen women." (Although I don't know what I'm going to do if Tim puts in an appearance.) After mentally checking her plan for a moment, she went for it.

"My husband's desires, which of course I shall follow, are that you serve a man who -- he sent here ahead of time, a junior chief in our clan. His name is Blaise. Might you by chance have heard of him? It doesn't seem like a Gorielian name."

Rose held her breath for a moment as the girl considered her answer, and it was all she could do not to spoil the whole thing with a massive sigh of relief when Kirassia shook her head in a negative. Luminosita be praised. Now we can start to work...
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Re: Goriel and beyond, part 2

Post by Alberich »

Kirassia's thanks for the coffee were polite, but far less wordy than the men's loquacity. She commented on its taste and quality, but not in a way that revealed -- much of anything. The strange ways of these robed foreigners seemed to bother her not at all. Nor did anything else. She quite agreed that accepting their hospitality "and Lord Duravsky's, at the same time" (by which she must've meant herself) was the right and prudent thing to do. "The guest comes at fortune's hand, which tomorrow lies on the host" - she quoted a local proverb.

"My husband's desires, which of course I shall follow, are that you serve a man who -- he sent here ahead of time, a junior chief in our clan. His name is Blaise. Might you by chance have heard of him? It doesn't seem like a Gorielian name."

She thought, shook her head, and thought some more. "Did he come also by airship? These do not come often."

Tim, obligingly, did not put in any appearance whatsoever. It was not a hard call for him.
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Re: Goriel and beyond, part 2

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Dina, in a semi-forced giggly way, possibly trying to take her mind off the last tale, asked some pointed questions about Eli's sexual foibles.

I paint Eli as a stern, frightening man, one I am glad to be away from. I profess a hope that I am assigned elsewhere upon my return.

"Who do you think his lordship will assign me to here?" I ask, curious. I had assumed that I would be with Arman Duravsky himself, but if that's not to be (and I think I would prefer such, considering that chilling tale) then I have practically no idea what to expect. Any guidance they could give me would be helpful, even if meer guesses.

The merchants of Goriel were not so well stocked as she might wish, and did not carry the exact scented oil she preferred. But attar of roses was available, as were several perfumes and ointments. It was Irina's task to inform the right people of what they needed.

No lilac oil. Damn. Rose oil is so... cliche. Honeysuckle...? Even if it is avaliable, they probably won't be able to get it by tonight. Oh well, I suppose when in house of Roses, smell as the Roses smell.

"Might you be able to find Honeysuckle perfume when you're next have the chance?" I ask Irina. "I'm afraid the lilac perfume I wore today won't make it through to this evening, and I would like a scent that reminds me of the garden at home." Sure, why not, a garden of lilacs and honeysuckle. It would smell nice anyway.

I ask about lotions, and find one that is acceptable, with a light scent that won't clash with any perfume I happen to be loaned or acquire. I'm not familiar with some of the other scents they mention - maybe I can find something sutable.

"Is there somewhere I might rest for a few hours?" I ask Anfisa. "I want to make sure I'm well rested for tonight." I'd also like an excuse to speak with Anfisa alone. I'm... curious about her.

-- Desiree

OOC: Also, unless there's something else that needs discussed, I think it's time to move this forward. I could talk about perfume for a long time, but it wouldn't be particularly interesting to anyone (myself included).
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