Goriel and beyond, part 3

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Alberich
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Re: Goriel and beyond, part 3

Post by Alberich »

Out in the courtyard, where Rose and her companions were being escorted, they found Tim and Eli playing some kind of knife-throwing game. It was easy enough to gather them up. Kirassia, it seems, was also somewhere nearby, for she had no trouble slipping in amongst them, so that all were together once more.

Before they and the disguised Therese were near the inner quarters, they were intercepted by a burly older man walking forward (not so old as to be grey, but well above the median age in this young country). Desiree recognized him as Iosif -- "Beetle" among the geteroi, Valentina's generous lover on her last night here -- and he was all smiles as he approached the large knot of visitors. "Welcome, good Lord Cleiviein!" he said. "An honor for you to grace us with your presence this fine afternoon, and to avail yourselves of the hospitality of our compound, and its amenities, and also a good show of family solidarity, that you come to visit with your cousin as well - would that all remembered their families so faithfully! His Lordship would be most pleased if you could spare a few minutes to visit with him before you depart from here, as doubtless you will wish to take supper with your good but unfortunate hosts in the noble House of Yurkashev.

"But" -- he spoke to the young man from near the gate - "Lev Fyodorovich, who is this stranger with the bundle, and where are you bringing him?"

"Iosif Vitalyevich, this man has brought something of great interest to His Lordship the Prime Minister, a matter he must know of, yet best not spoken of in the open air."

No one here had the power to read thoughts, but there were a few words on Iosif's face even behind his beard. "Young" and "fool" were among those words, with a subtle undertone of, "But the idiot's my cousin, after all, and we're in front of people."

"Now, Lev Fyodorovich, can you not see that His Lordship is going to be far too occupied in his audience with this noble lord? We'll go to some private spot and talk it over with your new friend ourselves." He gestured to the knife players. "Malyuta Tarasovich - send an extra man to the gate, then come along with us, and we'll see what this is that Lord Arman must know so much about. And give this young man the reward his message deserves!" The double meaning in that last sentence was not at all subtle. In a different time and place, even men as important as Iosif and Malyuta would not take so much trouble for a stranger with an "important" message. But Lord Arman's reputation was well known -- and there were not many who would risk bringing him a frivolous message.

And if this one had, well, then, Lord Arman's reputation would have a chance to be renewed.
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Re: Goriel and beyond, part 3

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Truly, no one in the courtyard had the ability to read minds. Sister Rose, however, did have the ability to read emotions, and those were flying fast and furious as this encounter played out.

<"I'm not sure what Therese is up to,"> she thought at Argus, <"but she's concerned, and more, for our group. There's something going on with what she's carrying, I can't figure out what it is, not a threat but -- important. I think we should offer her our protection, keeping in mind that 'she' is a 'he' as far as these people know."> The thought message passed, she made sure that her physical location was demurely in the background.
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Drannin
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Re: Goriel and beyond, part 3

Post by Drannin »

<"I'll see if I can make contact with her at some point,"> Argus concurred. Right now looked to be a bad time.
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Re: Goriel and beyond, part 3

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[OOC: Gonna put one small word -- or more accurately, action -- in Argus' mouth/stance here, to move things along. It needn't pre-empt Argus being more verbose on the same subject, however.]

Therese looked at the two men who were trying to decide what to do with her. She came to a decision; risky, but if she was as good a judge of character as she thought, it should work. Should.

"I am sorry," she said, "but the contents of this package must be shown only to His Lordship. To reveal them to anyone else, your own august selves included, could have terrible consequences that I cannot allow. Please trust me on this. I believe your other distinguished visitors, from Clan Cleiviein, will vouch for my honor and good intentions." She looked pointedly at Argus and Sister Rose.

Rose, for her part, recoiled momentarily. Luminosita's Sacred Sweatband. How did she know I was checking her out with the Empathy? She must have known, to say that -- yet it's a totally passive spell, at least as far as I or any of my instructors ever knew. And the hell of it is: she's right. I don't know exactly what her intentions are, but she's not about to blow the Prime Minister up, I'm just sure of that. (It wasn't lost on Rose that if she was wrong in that assessment, she'd be within blast range herself.) For a moment her eyes met Therese's, and ever so subtly, she nodded. Then she mind-spoke to Argus. <"I believe her. We can go along with this.">

Argus paused for what may have seemed an eternity, then slowly, wordlessly, nodded his head.

"Thank you, my lord," Therese acknowledged the gesture with a slight bow of her own head. "I promise not to take more than five minutes of the Lord Prime Minister's time, then he's all yours." She looked around to see the effect this was having on her escorts ... at the exact same time as Rose's own mental thank-you echoed in Argus' head, for reasons she could not yet articulate.
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Alberich
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Re: Goriel and beyond, part 3

Post by Alberich »

"I am sorry," she said, "but the contents of this package must be shown only to His Lordship. To reveal them to anyone else, your own august selves included, could have terrible consequences that I cannot allow. Please trust me on this. I believe your other distinguished visitors, from Clan Cleiviein, will vouch for my honor and good intentions."

Argus paused for what may have seemed an eternity, then slowly, wordlessly, nodded his head.

"Thank you, my lord," Therese acknowledged the gesture with a slight bow of her own head. "I promise not to take more than five minutes of the Lord Prime Minister's time, then he's all yours." She looked around to see the effect this was having on her escorts ...


With a kindly smile on his face, Lord Iosif refused. "Why, were it but a matter of the great esteem in which Your Lordship is held, the merest nod would be all that was needed! But, alas, there are other duties and particulars laid upon us all by fate and necessity and the cruel ways of this world, such that it may not be. Even as you have shown such great devotion to your family, as to take time from your day to visit with your lovely getera cousin in this place, so too must we give our assurances to His Lordship. I do not doubt that, once we have had a good introduction to this young man's business, we will wish ever so swiftly to convey it to His Lordship!" -- there was a great deal more. Thus did Iosif demonstrate one game the Gorielians played better than chess: stonewalling. Beneath a welter of superfluous courtesy, these people could stonewall like granite covered in candyfloss. There was simply no way that Iosif (or Malyuta, for that matter) was going to let a strange man with a "secret message for the Prime Minister alone" get into that audience chamber.

As Desiree could've told them, if she'd had the mind-speech, Iosif was in a strong position to take this stance, secure in his own standing that his decisions would be backed up. He was high in the Prime Minister's esteem and near to his counsel; that was doubtless why he'd so often been assigned his favorite getera, Valentina Yurkashev. On matters that related to the Prime Minister's security, the odds that a senior man like Iosif would be overruled, even on the "noble lord" Argus' wish, these were exceeding low. Argus held high status for now. But it was not high enough to effect this.

Suspicion of others' deadly motives lay deep within the Gorielian character. It was often well founded! The phrase "please trust me on this" was bound to increase these men's suspicions - suspicions Rose could taste like a mouthful of horseradish. And the day after a bold assassination attempt right in the feasting hall of Clan Yurkashev? To have the stranger in there with Clan Duravsky's own guests, ready to inflict the same disgrace on the Prime Clan? It was just not going to happen. Therese began to wonder if they'd insist on a strip-search for poisoned daggers...

As Argus and his companions were led away, Malyuta paused to sweep appreciative eyes over Desiree's loveliness. Perhaps he'd heard of His Lordship's decision that she was to be his for tonight. He and Iosif then prepared to lead Therese-in-disguise a different way. That is, Iosif leading, Malyuta following with his hand on a dagger - but Malyuta's pause to take in Desiree's feminine sway gave Therese an opening for a mad dash or rash move if she wished to make one.

The reunited airship adventurers -- Desiree, Rose, Argus, Brad, Lillith, Eli, and Tim [OOC: the DRABLET group?] -- with Kirassia were led one way by their escort. (Valya Armanovich, one of the chief's sons, twentyish, ugly, and silent.) When his eyes were off of them, Kirassia whispered where Rose and Desiree could hear: "I think I've heard something about the man you're looking for." Well, that would make this social call pass swiftly, now, wouldn't it?

The walk brought them to a mid-sized audience chamber, gaudily hung with tapestries and precious fixtures. Lord Arman sat behind a wide table in a gold-inlaid chair, being as Desiree had seen him - older, shorter, and rounder than most here, with grey in his neatly groomed beard, and fur on his robes. His beatific smile could have been idiocy, second childhood, or a well-made mask. Rose found him as hard to read emotionally as Kirassia had been, giving some weight to the third option. Young Gorielian men were often easy to read, their flaring tempers and lusts no more subtle than an Orthodox light show in Emerylon; but maybe the ones who lived to be old, or had to survive a long time among the stronger, learned different arts.

He was flanked by several of his trusted retainers, including the only man that was even older - his uncle Iokim, the owner of the strange chess set - and Leonid, the man with no nose. They kept expressionless during what followed. Leonid's emotions shifted between bored and mildly interested, but his attention never wandered. The others held some curiosity and interest, they not having seen this group before, with bits of lust directed Desiree's way.

"Good afternoon!" said His Lordship, "And take seats if you wish!" In fact, there were only three chairs on this side of the table, and there were four men and four women in this group, so deciding who would sit might be a signal of sorts. "It is so good of you to come to see us and partake of our hospitality, in the midst of your busy times in this lovely city. And especially that you've come to check up on your lovely cousin, who has given much joy to our household, and also to take her about with you as you enjoy our grounds! I trust our Kirassia has also been of service and you haven't come to return her? We understand if you wish to -- there is no insult if it is so -- for we know you are so very occupied with your own business, and perhaps may not be so long with us, but yet we will be delighted if Desiree may sojourn with us a little while longer. Such magical fingers she has on the psaltery! You set an example to all with your concern for your family! Ah, the young people today, they should pay attention to your example.

"And it is a delight as well to see that all of you are well" -- though by now he surely must have heard all from Leonid -- "after that most despicable attack on your unfortunate but noble hosts" -- the word "unfortunate," in this context, was actually a social slight on the Yurkashev, implying that they were not masters of their own destiny on a point of honor -- "that all of you are well and unscathed! We heard also of your boldness in fighting off those cowardly swine, where weaker men would have quailed and hidden behind their hosts, but you struck them down in complete slaughter! Here, too, our young people should pay attention, and imitate your ways, bold in defense of their kin!

"How are you finding our fair city?"

[OOC: Maybe a missionary read these guys the equivalent of Judges 3:19, but I suspect they didn't need to be taught suspicion by outsiders.]
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Re: Goriel and beyond, part 3

Post by Graybeard »

Therese carefully composed her face into exactly the desired mixture (or so she hoped) of polite acceptance and chagrin. Truthfully, she hadn't expected direct access to the Prime Minister, although it would have made things easier and less risky from her point of view. As compensation, the next few minutes (assuming she survived them) were going to shed light on some of the inner workings of Clan Duravsky, something that the Sisterhood had wondered about for years. Yes, that might be even more advantageous than a direct seance with Arman -- again, assuming she survived.

In any event, she'd achieved her main goal already: set foot inside this compound and start getting the lay of the land. The rest could follow later. "Very well," she said smoothly. "I understand your concerns, and I place my trust in the warm personal relations that you have with His Lordship. I must warn you, however, that not a word of what I'm about to show you should get outside the walls of this compound. When you see it, you'll understand why."

She set the bundle on the table in front of her and started to explain. "While shopping in the Imports district of the market" -- those present in the room would understand that to be the part of the market that not only accommodated such pitifully few foreigners as did business in Goriel, but also vendors from the hill country and those residents of Goriel proper unfortunate enough not to be attached to a major clan -- "I noticed a piece of -- I hesitate to call it 'art' or 'sculpture' -- that appeared to be on a particularly repellent theme. Nothing new about that among the Importers, of course." (That was true enough, and it had to do with why she'd been able to find what she was looking for there.) "But something about it caught my eye, and I realized that it wasn't merely in poor taste, it was an attack on the distinguished personage of the Prime Minister himself, and therefore both inflammatory and treasonous. If it was intended as a rallying point for enemies of Clan Duravsky, it could be very dangerous indeed, and so I paid for it and brought it here; within the walls of this compound must be the least dangerous place for the thing." Apart from whatever use you two are going to make of it against the old bastard, but that's one thing that interests me. "May I?" She pointed to the drawstrings at the top of the parcel.

[OOC: Nothing for Rose to say or do for the moment; as soon as Argus talks the party out of Armen's grasp, she'll have plenty to do involving Kirassia, but for right now, D, that ball is in your court.]
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Alberich
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Re: Goriel and beyond, part 3

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"While shopping in the Imports district of the market, I noticed a piece of -- I hesitate to call it 'art' or 'sculpture' -- that appeared to be on a particularly repellent theme. Nothing new about that among the Importers, of course. But something about it caught my eye, and I realized that it wasn't merely in poor taste, it was an attack on the distinguished personage of the Prime Minister himself, and therefore both inflammatory and treasonous. If it was intended as a rallying point for enemies of Clan Duravsky, it could be very dangerous indeed, and so I paid for it and brought it here; within the walls of this compound must be the least dangerous place for the thing. May I?" She pointed to the drawstrings at the top of the parcel.

There was no look of shock, horror, or suprise on the two bearded faces -- the room they'd taken her two was a small outbuilding, and there was plenty of ready violence available in the courtyard if anything popped up they couldn't handle here. They were all amused smiles and self-assured arrogance. Iosif cut into this.

"Let us not be hasty, young friend!" he said. "For we are still strangers to one another, and I don't think we've ever met! I am Iosif Vitalyevich Duravsky, and I offer you the hand of friendship!" - here he very firmly grasped Therese's right hand, sliding his other hand up her arm in an extremely unsubtle move that would surely locate any weapons up her sleeve. "And the other hand of friendship!" - he repeated the gesture on her other arm. "And my good cousin Malyuta Tarasovich, I am sure, will wish to embrace you like a brother!" Malyuta, taking the hint, did indeed embrace her - from behind. His arms were strong, his hug too tight for comfort, and his hands began to wander in such a way that not the tiniest concealed dagger about her waist, hip, or even boot-tops would escape his notice, nor would anything else of interest to a suspicious man.

To one of Therese's mind, there could be little doubt that these sudden hot embraces from two of the beastly, tyrannical men of Goriel must be profoundly disturbing. What was in their minds? Well she knew that, in public, these men of Goriel always boasted to want only women -- which she did not appear to be -- and to service them on a schedule that would exhaust the venery of a hare, leaving not a drop of lust for any other outlets. But well she also knew that when they were out of town, away from their soft-skinned chattels, in secret they turned their lusts to handsome young men. Or ugly smelly ones if that's all that was around. Or goats and donkeys, ditto ditto. And it was said that some of them learned to like that better... This didn't have to be that did it? but to stay calm would be a strong challenge.

Continuing in a tone of confident delight, Iosif continued - "It shows true duty on your part, to come to warn us of these scurrilous goings-on! So, my favored young friend, who then are you, who have come to carry out this admirable act of loyalty?"
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Re: Goriel and beyond, part 3

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This, Therese had prepared for; she'd expected more rough handling than she'd received to this point, and the Sisterhood had a list of entirely legitimate-sounding clan names that however had never turned up in Goriel itself. She had only to remember the one she'd used with the compromised sentry on previous occasions; he dare not plead ignorance of it now, not if he wanted any more of the ... treats he'd become addicted to.

"I am Yakov Vartanovich, of Clan Borisenko," she said calmly. "Our clan is based in a town in the south of this state --" she named a small town that she knew to exist, one with minimal commercial commercial dealings with the city of Goriel, it had passed muster before -- "and our esteemed chief, my father Vartan Nekhemovich, relies on me to conduct our trade with your fine city. Is that satisfactory?"

And if it's not, you bastards, I can incinerate this conveniently small building with you in it, for the way you were groping me. Once again she gave silent thanks to the Five Great Mothers that her physique was more boy-like than bosomy ... but there were limits.
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Re: Goriel and beyond, part 3

Post by Drannin »

Argus sat down in the central seat, Brad on his right hand, Time on his left, with Eli directly behind them. Rose and Desiree stood farther back, with Desiree farther back still. Argus bowed his head politely. "My good lord, truly I am honored to be received so warmly by your household. I am overjoyed to know that Desiree has brought as much happiness to your home as she has to mine." Here Argus allowed a smile to cross his face. "I would be honored were you to permit her to remain here a while longer, and continue to please you. And your Kirassia! I can not understate the joy she has brought me during her stay with us, and I pray you will permit her to stay with us a time longer..." And so on, and so on, offering the effusive praise the Gorielans were used to, while speaking of the assassins as base curs barely worthy of his attentions.

It was a lot like politics in Tsuiraku, really, but with a lot more filler.

As for Goriel, Argus was highly complimentary, praising the city and its inhabitants, and in particular its mighty prime clan.

So, yes, a lot like Tsuirakuan politics with the emotions turned up a notch.
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Re: Goriel and beyond, part 3

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Iosif showed lots of teeth at this introduction. At least this explained the extreme insolence of such a young man coming himself, to "report to the prime minister," instead of going through his own clan elders. If he'd come up from so far south, he might be the only member of his family in this city. At the same time, if it was a clan he'd never heard of -- and he had never heard of these Borisenko -- they were small fry indeed and ought to be showing a lot less impertinence in the presence of the Prime Clan of Goriel. (Of course, such impertinence, if you could back it up, might mean true courage - but rare indeed was the man who could manage that!) He could treat this "princeling" as he pleased. His hand crept around the back of "Yakov's" head and scratched it with a kind of rough, domineering affection.

There were many liars in this land -- from money-hucksters to wild-eyed assassins -- and the best thing was to put the boy's story to the proof. Whether true or false, there would be some amusement. His smile spread to his eyes as he decided what to do. For small fry like this, there was no need to take the issue to Grigoriy -- who probably knew the name of every clan in the country -- or anyone at that level. He was more than capable of handling this.

"How good to meet you, young Yakov Vartanovich! And in the act of doing your duty to the Prime Minister! And how wise you were to leave this bundle just as you bought it! Yes, for a man of such honored position, I think the scurrilous nature can be taken for granted, and we simply must meet the ones who are responsible.

"Malyuta Tarasovich!" -- Malyuta had ceased his unsubtle groping but had a hand on the "boy's" shoulder. "Our Good Lord Duravsky has need of your services! Call in your friends from the courtyard, or any others you wish. Four or five men I think will do.

"Take this bundle of treason here. Leave it tied up as it was when the boy bought it. Have him take you to the foul traitor in the marketplace who sold it to him, and have that villain identify it as the thing he sold. If he does, confront him with its evil nature! Keep our young friend close to you, in arm's reach, surrounded by your friends, that you may protect him from harm.

"If indeed there is a merchant there selling treason, well, then, you must give him a good thrashing, and rearrange his goods in a way that is less treasonous. And if he seems reluctant to reveal the name of his supplier, why, bring him back here, and he will be delighted to talk. And then our young friend Yakov shall have the reward he deserves!

"Ah, but if there is no merchant, if our friendship has been abused! Oh, but let us not talk of such things. That would never happen!" All cheerfulness, he watched Yakov's face as he spoke to Malyuta - to see if there was the slightest discomfort at this plan. Malyuta was already opening the door, to call for men.

[OOC: "Heart of my heart, is it meet or wise / To warn a King of his enemies? / We know what Heaven or Hell may bring / But no man knoweth the mind of a King."]
Last edited by Alberich on June 20th, 2012, 5:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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