Outsider Politics In The King's Court [IC]

[JNAProductions]

"You don't have to go-this is, in all likelihood, going to be one hell of a mess. But... People's lives are on the line," Sam says, looking at you all.

What will you say in response?

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OOC Thread

[TriciaOso]

"Darling, I'm only insulted I wasn't invited under my own colors," drawls Elemmirae, reaching for the invitation with a slim white hand. A silver ring with an enormous dark red stone glints on the socialite's finger.

He tucks the invitation away in the impenetrably dark lining of an immaculate vermillion suit. The color was clearly chosen carefully to match his eyes, which burn like coals in a face of sculpted cheekbones and skin so pale it's almost blue. His hair is shoulder-length, brushed straight back from his forehead and has a silvery sheen over the black.

[Hemnon]

Evindal gave a sniff of the nose at Sam's words and merely pursed his lips.
"Sam... if I do this, you'll give the information I seek, yes? that was the deal right? If so, then yes I'm in." He said, making it quite clear he wanted a clean-cut deal out there in the air.

[NewtUser]

Eliza assumes that that comment wasn't really aimed at her, after all a mess is exactly what she likes, and Sam knows that.

But now sounds like the time to buy in, so she chimes up with "I'm in. How could I not be when you put it like that. Besides, sounds like fun", going for a tone that is both serious and chipper.

[JNAProductions]

Sam smiles at you all. "You'll get what you need, Evindas, regardless of what happens at the dance. As you can see from the invitations, you've got only three days left till it's time." She shuffles some papers on her desk, and pulls a short list of names scrawled hastily on a sheet of parchment. "I've got here some people working in the palace-associates who can help sneak in weapons, armor, or other gear. No one but Vect and his men are allowed to be armed or armored for this event, but if things go south... I've got two of them here now, to talk with. Let me get them fetched."

She pokes her head out the door, and calls two folk in. One of them is a tall, voluptuous human woman-her face is a little worn, but smiling, and she looks to be early forties. The other is a very neutral-faced dwarven man.

"Charity, at your service," the woman says.

"Orin, likewise," the dwarf says.

[NewtUser]

Eliza stands to introduce herself and shake their hands, "I'm Eliza", when plotting misbehavior it never hurts to treat everyone well.

With the formalities observed, Eliza asks the newcomers "Before we start making our own preparations, have we seen anything to suggest what preparations others are making? Particularly our hosts? Anything different happening for this ball compared to previous ones?"

[OOC: Testing out a darker shade for speech]

[TriciaOso]

Elem shifts to face them, uncrossing his long legs and then crossing them the other way.

"You do have the most delightful eye for personnel, Sam," he murmurs, examining both of them closely and rather obviously.

"I usually carry everything I need with me, but I suppose I could put together a little care package..."

[TriciaOso]

Spoiler

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Rolling Insight disguised as lechery, with an extra d4 from Pact of the Talisman:

(1d20+4)[24]

(1d4)[1]

[Hemnon]

Evindal smiled knowingly at Sam's comment on 'unarmed and unarmored'. "That will not be a problem for me... I am NEVER unarmed after all." He said cryptically and lightly stroked over the not-normal looking owl's feathered head that he had on his shoulder (It's Evindal's familiar).

He gave a nod of the head in the human woman's and the male dwarf's direction, but gave them no further mind or thought.

"On the notes of preparations, beyond just appearing at this gala, what do you expect of us, Sam? And for the rest of you - what sort of capabilities do you each have? I would prefer to know who and what I am working with." Evindal said with a lookover at Elemmirae and Eliza.

[JNAProductions]

Spoiler: Insight DC 25

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These seem like honest folk. Working in the palace, making a decent living, but perceptive enough to have noticed Vect's more ominous overtures. They're here to help-but they won't put their lives on the line without some serious reasons or prodding.

"What I expect is for Vect to make a move-consolidate his power, take out rivals, and woe to anyone who gets in his way. I know you all know Vect isn't the man he appears to be-it's not just for my benefit to stop him, it's for yours too," Sam replies. "If I'm wrong-and gods, I hope I'm wrong-you look pretty and give me the gossip from the gala."

[TriciaOso]

Elemmirae looks languidly at Evindal. "I make friends easily. And I am astonishingly good at looking pretty and collecting gossip."

"Elem," Sam growls flatly, and he rolls his crimson eyes and draws out his flask for a drink.

"I have some facility with the uncanny. Not a great deal, I admit, but--" He grins whitely. "It's spectacular while it lasts, and I recover quickly for another round. Dear Eliza knows."

"And I do make friends easily," he pouts, offering the flask to Evindal. It's platinum, engraved with the letters HG, and contains gin (currently).

Spoiler

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"There are," the wizened dao intones, "three kinds of people in this world, my boy. In this world and all the others"

"Our friends, to whom we owe loyalty. Our..." A wheeze. "Enemies, to whom we owe vengeance. And--the rest. To whom we owe nothing."

"Your greatest vice, Hasan, is that you make friends too easily. Control your empathy or it will control you."

[NewtUser]

Eliza rolls her eyes at Elemmirae, "The only rounds you have are rounds of liquor", she says with an exasperated smile.

She turns to Evindal and continues in a much more serious tone, "As far as combat goes I polymorph into bears and crush things. Out of combat, I'm nothing spectacular, I'm familiar with the social scene of course and have a few minor tricks, but none of them are worth writing home about.". As she says this a slightly odd looking raven flies in through a window and settles onto her shoulder. She pauses to affectionately bump her head into the raven, before asking Evindal "And you?"

[Hemnon]

Evindal gave the Genasi a 'seriously?' look, as if the elf himself couldn't really be sure if he was being pulled by the nose, if you wish... as in joked with.
But before he could (or even would want to) comment on any of what 'Elem' had said, Evindal turned his attention to Eliza, whom clearly looked like a half-human to Evindal's eye - curious as to what ancestry Eliza specifically had. If it was of the moon elves, or wood elves, or some other form of His kind.
"Me? Well some would call me a bladesinger but that's not entirely right - I am not a wizard with a focus on the blade after all. Otherwise might label me a spellsword. But my correct 'job', if you will, is an Eldritch Knight. I use weapons and imbue magic into my combat capabilities, augment my defenses in a reactionary fashion against attack, and get in close to defend my allies when in battle - lock them down and ensure the spellcasters, the healers, even the civilians if such are present, is kept out of harms way. Oh and I have Circino here to aid me as well." Evindal indicated the Owl perched on his shoulder with an extremely 'fey' feel to it. it was clearly not your average woodsland owl.
Evindal then held out his hand and with a flourish, he was suddenly wielding his unsheathed rapier - of which he quickly resheathed again by his hip.
"And I am NEVER unarmed..... and in case it matters, I am of Noble birth from my home-kingdom."

[TriciaOso]

Elemmirae blinks slowly, exactly like a cat, then withdraws the flask. He glances at Eliza. "Shall we whip out our pedigrees and play 'whose is longer'? Mine is crooked, though..."

He turns his ironic gaze on Sam next: "Was I meant to bring a pet as well?"

[NewtUser]

"You should always bring a pet", Eliza chimes in, blithely ignoring the rest of the comment, "they're fun!"

"Back to the matter at hand", she says turning back to the palace-associates, "I have a bow and maybe a warhammer that would be nice to have if things devolve, but only if it's not a risk to bring them in. I'm still interested in hearing if there's been anything interesting going on? Like remember the story of Lovelace, who tried to kill the entire court by trapping them in a summoning circle, if something like that is going on, any advanced warning would be great!"

Spoiler

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Vaguely borrowing from the Bartimaeous books here: https://bartimaeus.fandom.com/wiki/T...t_of_Samarkand

Edit:

Eliza telepathically asks her familiar to go back outside and keep a watch for anyone trying to listen in at the window, the king wouldn't be pleased if he finds out what we are discussing, after all.

[JNAProductions]

Spoiler

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Vaguely borrowing from the Bartimaeous books here: https://bartimaeus.fandom.com/wiki/T...t_of_Samarkand

Spoiler: OOC

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Those books were dope! I should read them again. :)

The familiar sees no prying eyes-Sam's abode is well-equipped to avoid intruders of any sort. "That... Is unfortunately not available. Charity, Orin-has anything of that sort happened? Or anything of note?"

Orin shakes his head, but Charity frowns, and says "He's had the carpets redone. They're some exotic material-twistbrane, I think it's called."

"Twistbrane... Feels like a fiber, comes in long spools, hell and a half to work with?" Sam asks. Charity nods, and Sam continues, saying "It's not usually done for carpets. Only clothes. Assassins' garb-blood comes out of it easily. Doesn't help pinpoint what's going to happen, but it makes it that much more likely something will."

[TriciaOso]

"The problem is, Sam darling," Elem says, "if he simply locks the doors and sends in his army to stomp their nasty boots all over his new carpets and start cutting throats, it's not entirely clear what the three of us can do except the obvious." He draws a finger across his own neck.

"Our noble friend may find his strength is as ten because his heart is pure, but mine is decidedly... not. And in any case, Vect has rather more than ten men, if he chooses to use them."

[JNAProductions]

"Vect is smarter than that. Doing that would get revolts across the nation, assuming he can even get his whole army to do that. I don't doubt there are some who are loyal to him first, and would be happy to get rid of 'interlopers' but the whole army? No," Sam says. "Something subtler is going to happen. He's going to keep painting himself as the hero of the people until there's nothing the people can do to stop him."

Spoiler: OOC

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Let me know when y'all are ready to move on from this scene, in this thread or the OOC. Doesn't have to be now, but once you feel we're good, lemme know!

[JNAProductions]

The next few days pass without too much fanfare. Various noblefolk and their entourages come into the city, but you don't deal with them. Not yet, at least.

Elem gathers his supplies.
Evindal gets his gear tucked away, stowed with Sam's people in the palace.
And Eliza speaks with the animals around the palace. She finds that the birds, mice, and other critters know to stay away from the palace-the king keeps a stable of cats, who have plenty of aggression towards the small creatures.

And then, the day arrives. The gala begins at two past noon-how do you make your entrance?

[TriciaOso]

Spoiler: Moody interiority

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The man with the initials H. G. on his flask does not arrive on the dot of two; it would be out of character. But he spends the time tensely in his quarters, such as they are. It's much easier to maintain his lifestyle in the capital if you don't actually have a bedroom, so he sits on a chaise in the salon and turns the ring with the large red stone over and over in his hands.

Mama isn't happy about this. But it's--gag him--the right thing to do. Even if this works, though... he probably won't be safe coming back here. Another city, another set of sumptuous rooms, another step towards the Plane of Earth--to home. Goodbye, though, to Elemmirae Cinnaba. You were a fun person to be.

He sighs and rises to regard himself in the mirror that makes up one wall, all illusions shorn. His skin, ruddier, craggier, the pourous crumbling mineral texture. His long silver hair, moving like a dense liquid. The black shiftweave, reduced to its most rudimentary shape. He raises his hands like a conductor and... lies. To all the prying eyes, to his own eyes, to reality itself.

He spends his last gold on a coach to travel the six blocks in style.

An expensive hired coach pulls up at the palace at a quarter of three, just as the greatest density of visitors is pressed in the forecourt; the biggest possible audience. Elemmirae Cinnaba stumbles with grace, a neat trick if you can do it, out of the coach; he is unaccompanied, although he blows a kiss back into the interior before it leaves.

His thick black hair with its silver sheen is slicked back with a quantity of wax, redolent of parma violet. His mobile delicate half-elven ears are tipped in an expression of louche curiousity and hungry curiousity, his amber-red eyes cool and ironic, his pale smooth skin powdered and artfully rouged. His vermillion doublet has slashed black-and-amber puffed sleeves that match the tight leather trousers and his high-heeled kid boots. His omnipresent ring is paired with silver earrings, one dangling a large amethyst stone.



He slips his hand within his doublet and produces his invitation, which he presents languidly to the guards securing the door with the air of a curator at a museum rather than a supplicant begging entry.

[Hemnon]

Evindal arrived at the self-same spot as Elem had just a little while earlier, in a grandiose-but-toned-down carriage befitting that 'oh it's elven' stereotype many a human might hold towards Evindal's kind.
The icy white hair of his was tied up into a ponytail, his body dressed up in exquisite, finely-woven elven noble-clothing in a warm sunset-orange scheme with his house-emblem woven into the intricate patterns of nature and historical passages - and over his shoulders and back hang a dark-blue nightsky colored Cape, small twinkling silvery-lights like stars could be seen on the cape as the it shifted and moved with every motion - as if alive and showing the nightsky itself.
Beyond that was a fashionably-forged tiara set into place around his forehead, of a silvery-esque metal, studded with various gems of dark blues, purples and diamond-clear.

After exiting the carriage, he held a hand out for Eliza to take when she exited as well - as was his duty as the leading companion of the two in such a high class setting.
Once she had exited the carriage as well, Evindal would quickly and with a 'done this too many times to count' attitude, fish out the invitation he had stowed inside his clothes and handed it to whomever were taking those things for an overview.

[NewtUser]

Eliza accepts Evindal's hand, and passes him her invitation to present to the guards as well. As if she doesn't have a care in the world, she looks around, for anything interesting happening, or for anyone she recognizes.

She wears a minimalist and elegant straplesses red dress, her hair is tied back into a matching pony tail, though she can't match Evindal's icy white color. Around her neck is her ever present spider-choker, and on her feet black shoes with a small but noticeable heel.

She waits for Evindal to lead her inside.

Spoiler: Perception

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[roll0]

[JNAProductions]

You're not the first to arrive, but far from the last. You see various nobilefolk walking ahead of you, and there are a few whispers that you'd guess are about you, given the glances. But the guards, who take the invitations, let you in with a smile.

Inside the palace, there are servants waiting to lead you to the ballroom. The ballroom itself has, for the moment, a small band performing some light background music, as well as a few tables laden with treats and drinks for the guests to start with. You spot Charity bustling off somewhere, having dropped off some appetizers.

Vect is nowhere to be seen for the moment.

[TriciaOso]

Elem marks Charity from the corner of his eye, but does not approach her or react. Instead, he steers his way to toward Eliza, greeting her ostenatiously.

"Eliza darling! You look exquisite. And I see our gem has found a worthy setting." His eyes rake over Evindal, head to toe and back again. "You must introduce me to your delectable companion."

[Hemnon]

Evindal was used to this sort of setting, and the fact people were gossiping weren't bad when used right. He would simply adopt an approachable aloofness sort of attitude. As if he was thinking of matters far away, but not in the 'go away' format.

Upon Elem's approach, he merely let Eliza hang gently to his arm while he was gazing around at the current-visitors, trying to keep an eye out for any potential 'stands out' notable things or people.
His eyes did flicker to Elem the moment he was referred to indirectly, and he merely did a small nod in greeting before once more letting his curious gaze wander once more.

Spoiler: Perception

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(1d20+4)[24]
Basically just keeping an eye out for anyone or anything that might stand out, even if it's just a nagging 'something' about said person or object.

[NewtUser]

"Elemmirae" Eliza exclaims in apparent surprise, "It's so good to see you! My companion here is Evindal Enris, from the Elven Kingdom, he's a talented swordsman and mage here on a grand tour of the world!", she pauses to turn to Evindal, "Evindal, this is Elemmirae Cinnaba, a good friend of mine skilled in many things, I think the two of you will get along."

Spoiler: OOC

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Does the elven kingdom have a better name than that?

Also made up a reason for Evindal to be here since I don't see one stated anywhere, it can remain just that, Eliza making something up, if it doesn't fit.

Spoiler: Rerolling Perception

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Seems like my last attempt at rolling failed to actually roll, trying again
(1d20+5)[7]

[JNAProductions]

Spoiler: Perception DC 7

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Man, those appetizers look GOOD. But nothing out of place is noticed.

Spoiler: DC 24

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You noticed the carpets on the way in were made of a material you aren't very familiar with.

Furthermore, you spot, just out of the corner of your eye, people keeping an eye on you and the rest of the guests. Hidden in nooks and crannies, and faintly wraithlike.

You're approached by a minor noble from the north. He's dressed lightly, not used to the weather of Commorragh, and has an impressively well-muscled chest. "Gods above, how do you handle the heat in this city?" he asks. "This is my first time in Commorragh-first time this far south, really."

[TriciaOso]

The northerner successfully diverts Elemmirae's attention from Evindal, who is not very responsive to overtures anyway. He chats glibly about the weather, finding what innuendo he can, and scans the room himself while hopefully appearing to only have eyes for the well-muscled nobleman.

Spoiler: OOC

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Perception: (1d20+4)[17]

I may use Pact of the Trinket if this is low, although not if it's rock bottom.

EDIT: Yes, I'll spend one, just in hopes of pushing over 20.

[TriciaOso]

As he chats, Elem twists his ring on his finger.

Spoiler: Trinket

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(1d4+17)[18]

[Hemnon]

Evindal gave the northern-looking fellow a courteous bow greeting, arm crossed over in front of his chest.
He then leant in close to Eliza's ear and whispered "look at the inside of my cape." And the moment he saw her look, he gave a mental command to his Cloak of Many Fashions to alter a part of the inside of the cloak that was within sight of just Eliza to spell out 'We are being observed by something in the shadows and distance. Pass it along to Elem.' - It was done in a pattern.-fitting way so even if others were looking it wouldn't be overtly noticable.

Evindal would when quickly erase the words from his Cloak and gave his full attention to the Northerner. "Oh yes indeed sir. It's quite warmer here than home in the elven lands. I did not catch your name, by the way? I am Evindal Enris - Son of Duke Elephon Enris, of the Elven Kingdom."