CHARACTERS: Misato + Gildor, Sam, Lakshmi, Seconds and others! WHERE: The Graze, Hyrypia WHEN: DAY 16-18 SUMMARY: Various starters for various attempts at winning this intergalactic scavenger hunt! WARNINGS: Bad decisions all around.
[The tent clearly isn't the one in which the Seconds have been living - it's small, furnished with a low table and a variety of cushions embroidered with lush geometric patterns, and one of the sides has been rolled up in it's entirety so the Seconds might look down into the prospective competition field from a more comfortable position. A brazier in the corner goes unlit.
On the reverse side of the table from Misato, Kelradia balances a long shallow case on her knee. The Second pops the latch on the case with a clink of the small metal disks stitched into the hems of her sleeves. She removes three black stone cups from the case, secures the latch and slides the case back under the table alongside its twin.]
Oh, that's very far back indeed. And I can't say I remember much of it.
[Laughing, Kelradia takes up the heavy silvered pot from the center of the table and fills all three glasses with a nearly clear liquid. With the sun catching the metal wound into her two thick black braids and delicately strung headpiece, Kelradia doles the three cups between them without the help of the silent servant standing just there at tent's pole behind her.]
But certainly. My family have been primarily listle divers and weavers along the Meridian Sea for generations. When I was a little thing, I helped my grandmother shuck shells and thread needles.
[It's difficult to tell under all the ornamentation, but it's clear Kelradia is fairly young - and given the relative pared down embroidery on her sleeves, is either not so far removed from being a simple acolyte or simple in her preferences. Either way, she's hardly the filigreed matron Second who had led the ceremony way back in Naerstone's gardens. Perhaps the Carbauschian delegation simply doesn't warrant more significant attention.]
But I can't imagine that's really what you want to talk about. Unless of course you're looking to commission listleweave, in which case I know some very reliable crafters.
[Ha ha. We make jokes here.]
I would say I turned up late with starbucks but australia barely has starbucks
[ By contrast, Lakshmi expresses nothing physically out of herself. Each movement lightly poised, not her - but that of a Queen, lightly moving her hands, dignified restain that in the gold bangles that sit on her wrists, the layered material that sits heavy at her wrists, over gloves her own embroidered work of loose formed lotuses. Chiming as she settles her hands in front of her. ]
(Flattery is tried and true, I suppose. )
[ The fingers beckon in appreciation, curling one, two, three in dancer's poise into themselves the set of rings that sit link looped in chains swaying with it. ] Not at all - our interests lay diverse, and it is good to know that... such affection goes into the crafting. We may just come calling -
But -- [ she turns, the hang of her veils low still. To that, she animates the movements slightly, given that lack of being able to read expression - to put the fire. ] -- I believe my... companion has another question for you?
[ Lakshmi can play the dignified diplomat role for the both of them, with Misato maintaining her monopoly on the relentless questioning, a steady march forward with no regard for finesse or courtesy.
She had introduced herself as some sort of a defense adviser, trained in the ways of repelling enemies but not in making friends, which suits her just as well. One charms, the other takes. She allows her own hesitance to show when her companion steps into the dance of words, returning the feigned gesture of humility with flattery. She can be the brute for the both of them, but a leashed one, for now, leaning back after taking the offered cup, patiently waiting for her turn to speak again.
She fires as soon as the signal is given. ]
How were you chosen to become a Second? What was that like for you, your family? Did your grandmother approve?
[Kelradia wraps her hands around the cup, but doesn't drink from it.]
I'm not sure chosen is really the right way of it. It makes it sound like being of the House of Seconds is something I was given by the House. No, when my family realized I was blessed with the ability I was immediately surrendered to it. [She doesn't sound upset by it. Or delighted. This simply is the way of things.] I have always been of the House of Seconds - I just didn't know it as a child. That's understood by everyone.
[Adolescents become either farana or sarana. Seconds come from every place under the single red sun. This is how the world is.]
[ Misato obediently, trustingly begin to take tiny sips of her cup while Kelradia and Lakshmi speak, trying her best to fit in among cultured people and not yet seeing the value in deceit by sowing disappointment. The hardest part is fighting back the urge for directness at the cost of courtesy, it shows from the hesitant pause she allows following the other Host's question, before she jumps in after. ]
And how did you find out -- that you were blessed with the ability?
[Does she find the work fulfilling? The question seems to surprise her. Kelradia smiles, a bright and cheerfully genuine quality to her countenance.]
I like it, yes. I like making things, and besides it's afforded me more opportunities than my family's trade might. Not that it isn't respectable, but this affords me idle time to fill how I like.
[Hobbies. What a privilege.
To Misato--] My aunts caught me eating chalk. [Ha ha. Cue one shit-eating grin, which she quickly modifies to explain:] The late recognition of nectar-sensitive abilities sometimes results in strange side effects. Visual disturbances and vertigo are common, but sometimes you get an appetite for odd things. They took me to a doctor who recommended having me tested.
[ Her approval is felt across the link even if she keeps such a thing mild. It might not be in their best interest to like any of these people - who knows what they might be capable of, what they might be harbouring - ? But she finds a easy comfort in knowing the joy of hard work might be felt even so far from home. ]
Chalk? How... unfortunate. But at least, a prudent sign for your parents, I would wager. Must take a little of the confusion out of the matter.
Genius is allowed its oddity, or something like that.
[ It takes her this long to begin to feel at ease, enough to grin along with Kelradia and let her shoulders relax, leaning back against her chair while setting her glass back onto the table. ]
It's not as bizarre as it sounds, I promise. Being a Second is to have a kind of elemental tie to the the planet - it's makeup is somehow vital to me, as I'm instrumental to it. Ingesting certain minerals and plants native to the planet is fairly typical for Seconds who reach adolescence without being recognized. Our bodies know something is missing and starts to crave a substitute.
[She does drink now that the liquid has cooled further, lifting the cup delicately with both hands, taking a small sip and then setting it aside.]
But yes, I was tested by a doctor and then sent to the nearest house where a Second was stationed for additional investigation. Then I just didn't go home.
How sad. When you thought it was just indigestion.
[ That is, how sad to have one's life changed and solidified in a single twist of fate. ]
I'm sorry, but I have to ask -- do you think only Hyrypians may become a Second or does it have something to do with having lived on this planet for long enough? If any Rabadocean might embrace the belief, then maybe, given time . . .
Ah. [It sounds like 'Ah, now here we are at last,' or a breath of relief - as if she was curious where this was leading and that this has been somewhere near the top of her list of suspicions. Easy enough. Maybe she's fielded this question a few times since the stasrt of this very irregular Pilgrimage.]
As far as I know, only true Hyrypians are capable of it. It has something to do with our connection to the planet itself. Perhaps children of a union between a Hyrypian and another Rabadocean would have some possibility of the skill, but I've never heard of such a thing and it seems logical that an instance of a half Hyrypian with the skill would be noteworthy.
[She makes a small, dismissive gesture. The metal plates in her sleeves clink pleasantly.]
Anyway, if it were more than just theory, I suspect we wouldn't be in our current position. If it was a simple matter of having a child, surely someone would've been seduced into a marriage bed before now. I hear the Meradan are sometimes fond of that method of conquest.
[ Misato laughs in that Rabadocean way, it seems appropriate. ]
I think the Meradan are fond of any and all methods of conquest.
[ A little dash of salt aside, she leans in closer, clearly piqued. ]
Do you think the Circle -- your Circle -- will pledge Seconds like you to whoever is chosen as the ally? The way you do for the other Houses of Hyrypia? It makes you wonder if that would even work, if removed from the planet, it simply wouldn't work.
[ An easy press with honey, because its how it should be. She'd rather burn than be allowed into that conquest. Padmini herself had done the same. ]
We would never force that arrangement on an unwilling person. [ A sharp little bark of a word before she presses on. ] I am sure no Meradan would try it either.
[ There's a hover there, throwing out as stern opinion as that is - a question at the end, about the Meradans or this Seconds opinions of them. ]
I suspect that's likely the case. I'm sure I don't have to explain that the ties of Seconds to Houses are a fairly politicized arrangement [surely that's obvious even to outsiders] and pledging Seconds to the service of our betrothed seems only appropriate - and mutually beneficial. I don't believe the Circle has chosen to do any of this simply as a means to give up all our autonomy.
[That's rather educated for a poor fishing girl, isn't it? But it's been some time with Kelradia was such a girl.]
That said, our presence isn't strictly necessary for the manipulation of Nectar once it's been refined. Drawing it from the planet and imbuing it into crafted items requires a Second, yes, but the operation of such things only requires someone with the skill of technomancy. There are plenty of individuals from other planets capable of the general ability, if not the manipulation of raw Nectar. [She pauses, giving them both quizzical looks.] Are there no technomancers on Carbausch?
[Kelradia makes a small dismissive gesture then takes another sip from her black cup.]
We have enjoyed mutually beneficial relationships with the rest of the universe for generations, but it appears the major participants in the war at present believe that no progress is likely as long as all sides share in the same fuel source. I suspect [--said with the air of a young lady who has never attended a Circle meeting, but certainly is educated enough to make a few good guesses--] that the Circle's motivation is to select an ally who can preserve our way of life here instead of waiting for the fighting to come here as it must if they continued to deal with all sides.
In theory, certainly. In practice, we've heard what becomes of worlds folded under the shadow of a wing like the ones that belong to our most prominent guests. I believe the Circle would prefer to keep our culture as it is for as long as possible. I hear that's quite a bargain in our favor, though I've admittedly never been off world to see it for myself.
[Things change when leadership does. If war came to this place - if real fighting was done here -, what would that look like? What kind of charity would the winner be in the mood to give them? Better to forge an alliance while they have the leverage to.]
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no subject
On the reverse side of the table from Misato, Kelradia balances a long shallow case on her knee. The Second pops the latch on the case with a clink of the small metal disks stitched into the hems of her sleeves. She removes three black stone cups from the case, secures the latch and slides the case back under the table alongside its twin.]
Oh, that's very far back indeed. And I can't say I remember much of it.
[Laughing, Kelradia takes up the heavy silvered pot from the center of the table and fills all three glasses with a nearly clear liquid. With the sun catching the metal wound into her two thick black braids and delicately strung headpiece, Kelradia doles the three cups between them without the help of the silent servant standing just there at tent's pole behind her.]
But certainly. My family have been primarily listle divers and weavers along the Meridian Sea for generations. When I was a little thing, I helped my grandmother shuck shells and thread needles.
[It's difficult to tell under all the ornamentation, but it's clear Kelradia is fairly young - and given the relative pared down embroidery on her sleeves, is either not so far removed from being a simple acolyte or simple in her preferences. Either way, she's hardly the filigreed matron Second who had led the ceremony way back in Naerstone's gardens. Perhaps the Carbauschian delegation simply doesn't warrant more significant attention.]
But I can't imagine that's really what you want to talk about. Unless of course you're looking to commission listleweave, in which case I know some very reliable crafters.
[Ha ha. We make jokes here.]
I would say I turned up late with starbucks but australia barely has starbucks
(Flattery is tried and true, I suppose. )
[ The fingers beckon in appreciation, curling one, two, three in dancer's poise into themselves the set of rings that sit link looped in chains swaying with it. ] Not at all - our interests lay diverse, and it is good to know that... such affection goes into the crafting. We may just come calling -
But -- [ she turns, the hang of her veils low still. To that, she animates the movements slightly, given that lack of being able to read expression - to put the fire. ] -- I believe my... companion has another question for you?
late with gloria jean's
She had introduced herself as some sort of a defense adviser, trained in the ways of repelling enemies but not in making friends, which suits her just as well. One charms, the other takes. She allows her own hesitance to show when her companion steps into the dance of words, returning the feigned gesture of humility with flattery. She can be the brute for the both of them, but a leashed one, for now, leaning back after taking the offered cup, patiently waiting for her turn to speak again.
She fires as soon as the signal is given. ]
How were you chosen to become a Second? What was that like for you, your family? Did your grandmother approve?
no subject
I'm not sure chosen is really the right way of it. It makes it sound like being of the House of Seconds is something I was given by the House. No, when my family realized I was blessed with the ability I was immediately surrendered to it. [She doesn't sound upset by it. Or delighted. This simply is the way of things.] I have always been of the House of Seconds - I just didn't know it as a child. That's understood by everyone.
[Adolescents become either farana or sarana. Seconds come from every place under the single red sun. This is how the world is.]
no subject
So you simply were it, and it was a matter of time until it was recognised? [ A pause, another feigned longer consideration of weighing. ]
Do you find such your work... fulfilling?
no subject
And how did you find out -- that you were blessed with the ability?
no subject
I like it, yes. I like making things, and besides it's afforded me more opportunities than my family's trade might. Not that it isn't respectable, but this affords me idle time to fill how I like.
[Hobbies. What a privilege.
To Misato--] My aunts caught me eating chalk. [Ha ha. Cue one shit-eating grin, which she quickly modifies to explain:] The late recognition of nectar-sensitive abilities sometimes results in strange side effects. Visual disturbances and vertigo are common, but sometimes you get an appetite for odd things. They took me to a doctor who recommended having me tested.
no subject
Chalk? How... unfortunate. But at least, a prudent sign for your parents, I would wager. Must take a little of the confusion out of the matter.
no subject
[ It takes her this long to begin to feel at ease, enough to grin along with Kelradia and let her shoulders relax, leaning back against her chair while setting her glass back onto the table. ]
So you were tested for nectar sensitivity?
no subject
[She does drink now that the liquid has cooled further, lifting the cup delicately with both hands, taking a small sip and then setting it aside.]
But yes, I was tested by a doctor and then sent to the nearest house where a Second was stationed for additional investigation. Then I just didn't go home.
no subject
[ That is, how sad to have one's life changed and solidified in a single twist of fate. ]
I'm sorry, but I have to ask -- do you think only Hyrypians may become a Second or does it have something to do with having lived on this planet for long enough? If any Rabadocean might embrace the belief, then maybe, given time . . .
no subject
[ a pause, as if she is contemplating it. ] Or would we be required to... marry into a line to produce children?
no subject
As far as I know, only true Hyrypians are capable of it. It has something to do with our connection to the planet itself. Perhaps children of a union between a Hyrypian and another Rabadocean would have some possibility of the skill, but I've never heard of such a thing and it seems logical that an instance of a half Hyrypian with the skill would be noteworthy.
[She makes a small, dismissive gesture. The metal plates in her sleeves clink pleasantly.]
Anyway, if it were more than just theory, I suspect we wouldn't be in our current position. If it was a simple matter of having a child, surely someone would've been seduced into a marriage bed before now. I hear the Meradan are sometimes fond of that method of conquest.
no subject
I think the Meradan are fond of any and all methods of conquest.
[ A little dash of salt aside, she leans in closer, clearly piqued. ]
Do you think the Circle -- your Circle -- will pledge Seconds like you to whoever is chosen as the ally? The way you do for the other Houses of Hyrypia? It makes you wonder if that would even work, if removed from the planet, it simply wouldn't work.
no subject
We would never force that arrangement on an unwilling person. [ A sharp little bark of a word before she presses on. ] I am sure no Meradan would try it either.
[ There's a hover there, throwing out as stern opinion as that is - a question at the end, about the Meradans or this Seconds opinions of them. ]
no subject
[That's rather educated for a poor fishing girl, isn't it? But it's been some time with Kelradia was such a girl.]
That said, our presence isn't strictly necessary for the manipulation of Nectar once it's been refined. Drawing it from the planet and imbuing it into crafted items requires a Second, yes, but the operation of such things only requires someone with the skill of technomancy. There are plenty of individuals from other planets capable of the general ability, if not the manipulation of raw Nectar. [She pauses, giving them both quizzical looks.] Are there no technomancers on Carbausch?
no subject
[ A self-confirming statement. Carbauschians are known to be reclusive, and it's easier to believe anything that further supports that agenda. ]
Why do you think the Circle agreed to do any of this? This whole courtship?
no subject
[ Another sort of - not answer, all false interest but - it is empty of anything else to be discerned. ]
no subject
We have enjoyed mutually beneficial relationships with the rest of the universe for generations, but it appears the major participants in the war at present believe that no progress is likely as long as all sides share in the same fuel source. I suspect [--said with the air of a young lady who has never attended a Circle meeting, but certainly is educated enough to make a few good guesses--] that the Circle's motivation is to select an ally who can preserve our way of life here instead of waiting for the fighting to come here as it must if they continued to deal with all sides.
[Simple enough.]
no subject
[ It's hard for her to conceal her interest, perhaps for lack of trying. She leans forward when she rests her cup on the table, and doesn't retreat. ]
I'm sure you know, for all our airs, all of us here come as beggars at your doorstep. Your people can have more than just the status quo.
no subject
[Things change when leadership does. If war came to this place - if real fighting was done here -, what would that look like? What kind of charity would the winner be in the mood to give them? Better to forge an alliance while they have the leverage to.]