With money you squeezed from the peasants (open)

[toujoursdroit]

WHO: Open to all Riftwatch agents who care to attend. Plus-ones allowed within reason.
WHAT: The duke de Coucy is throwing a celebration to mark his eldest grandson’s 18th birthday, which he would do anyway and which is definitely not a blatant attempt to keep said grandson from running off toward the nearest opportunity for combat.
WHEN: Mid-Kingsway
WHERE: The de Coucy property in Hightown. (The servants are spying in case you break anything.)
NOTES: If you’d like your character to come but think some maneuvering would be required to make it happen, hit me oocly and we’ll figure it out. Similarly, if you need or want a starter with Romain or an NPC, just let me know.

The engraved invitations only go to a select few: the division heads and project leaders, Alexandrie d'Asgard, Petrana de Cedoux and (after some deliberation) Hugo and Jehan Mercier d'Annecy. Others, without a specific addressee, are posted in common areas in the Gallows including both dining halls, the herb garden and the game room:



Those at ease enough or bold enough to take him up on the invitation arrive to find the duke’s Hightown residence lit with a mixture of opulent scones, torches and enchantments. Once admitted through the outer gates—the servants at the door have a list on which one’s name must appear, seemingly including every member of Riftwatch—guests will be ushered a short walk back from the street to the house proper. The foyer boasts more servants, ready to take any outwear (the weather does not dictate it, but fashion may), as well as any gifts for the marquis.

Guests are then shown through to the ballroom. While it is generally used these days as a training area, it has been converted back to its intended use for the evening. The space is brightly lit and features a small but talented collection of musicians. The center of the room is clearly intended for dancing, but chairs and railings along the edge of the room provide a place for those who need a breath or who simply prefer conversation to dancing. Staff circulates with wine and hors d'oeuvres (mainly local shellfish and assorted pastries from Romain’s imported Orlesian patissier). In addition to their fellow Riftwatch agents, guests may run into carefully selected individuals from Hightown society, gratified to varying degrees at having been included.



Those who find even the edges of the ballroom too much may discover that the lower level of the two-level library is open, though servants pass through with enough regularity that it is not truly private. (Assuming one thinks servants count, of course.) The upper level is roped off. Anyone attempting to make their way up will be gently but firmly redirected by the staff. The lower level, however, does offer a few tables and various comfortable chairs and chaises, good for quiet conversation or simply a break from the crush of society.

About two hours after sunset, dinner is announced. All present guests are shown into the dining room. Those few in attendance who have seen the duke’s estate in Orlais, or even his home in Val Royeaux, would know this room is smaller than either. Everyone is seated comfortably, but in addition to the long, rectangular table at the room’s center, a few smaller circular tables hold the overflow. The seating has been chosen carefully for status, affiliation and balance of conversation. The duke heads the long table, and his grandson Thomas sits opposite. Thomas, like his grandfather and younger brother, is masked, but those who chat with him will easily be able to determine his buoyant mood from his voice and manner. The food is excellent, if less varied and exotic than it would have been had supply lines not been so constrained. (Romain thought to bring a few things back from his most recent trip to Orlais and finds himself glad of it now.)



After dinner, guests may resume dancing and gossiping in the ballroom, or engaging in quieter conversation in the library. Or they can make their way out to the courtyard in the rear of the property. While Hightown’s constraints mean the outdoor space is not extensive, it is walled to offer privacy from the nearest neighbors and boasts a water feature, impressively lit in honor of the occasion.

The duke circulates throughout the party for the evening, seemingly doing absolutely nothing other than chatting with his guests. Yet somehow after he passes through, any guests with empty glasses find someone offering to fill them, any low-burning torches are promptly replaced, and any guests causing a scene are discreetly spoken to or, if necessary, shown into a carriage that will take them home. In addition to Romain, guests may have a chance to speak to the guest of honor, Thomas, or to his younger brother, 15-year-old Raoul, who has been given a special dispensation to stay at the party as long as he likes and is seemingly determined to make the most of it. The festivities will drag on until dawn, for those most committed to a bit of merriment in the face of invasion, or at least most committed to eating the duke’s refreshments and drinking his wine until they’re cut off.

Comments

[armd]

Ah ha.

Abby grins suddenly, reaching out to touch his shoulder and turn him gently on the spot so she can point out the staircase that leads to the second, roped off, level.

"I want to read something from there. Can you sneak up and grab it for me?"

[helpinghidinghaunting]

Still unused to being touched, despite how gentle the motion is, Cole jumps a little as he is turned - but he calms quickly, staring up at the space indicated with some confusion.

"...If that's what you need," he mumbles, sounding a little unsure. "Which one?"

He has no idea that it might be wrong, after all.

[armd]

"It'll only take a minute," she coaxes, hearing the hesitancy behind his reply, "I just want to see why they've roped everything off up there, that's all."

Maybe they're all really expensive... or maybe they're saucy, or something, or full of evil magic. She's spitballing inside her own head.

"Any book is fine."

[helpinghidinghaunting]

There is a long moment of quiet as Cole evaluates what she's saying, frowning a little....

And then, in a blink, he suddenly vanishes completely from sight. Even Abby, watching him where he was, will notice he is suddenly just...missing, gone from sight.

While invisible, focused, he sets to creeping up the stairs, slipping under the rope.

[armd]

Abby remembers his diatribe about helping people and... well, technically this is a loophole? She does need help getting one of the books, but that's because she is not supposed to take the books... and for a moment, she thinks he's going to refuse to do it, but then he disappears completely, right before her eyes.

She sucks in a breath, surprised, and bites the inside of her cheek to keep from drawing attention to herself.

It's exactly the same as the way that Ellie reappearance in front of her that day in Lowtown. Suddenly, and all at once.

[helpinghidinghaunting]

The surprise isn't new. Even back then, when Rhys had watched him do what he does, it had been a shock to him, too.

While he is inexperienced, even naive, he knows that it isn't the book that Abby needs. It's to sate curiousity, to prod, to poke, to push. He can help with that. It will hurt no one.

Looking through the shelves a moment, he frowns where no one can see him, making sure the shelf he selects is out of sight from any guards...then picks a book with a long title and pretty scrollwork on the spine (he isn't very good at reading, and doesn't want to take the time to try and sound it out), plucking it from the pile and making it vanish as he does.

From where Abby is standing, if she is watching very carefully, she may even notice this happening.

[armd]

She's trying to watch, searching silently with her eyes as she counts out the seconds, trying to place where he could be. At the stairs, now. Maybe halfway up? She doesn't know if he still makes sound while he's invisible... he could be taking his time. So she misses the instant that the book vanishes, and by that point it has already occurred to her that he could have simply disappeared and left her standing here, staring into space like an idiot.

Doesn't seem like the type, but he is quite shy. He had frowned at her, before leaving.

Abby glances at her fingernails, her own brow furrowing, before her gaze casually returns to the upper level.

[helpinghidinghaunting]

Once the book is in hand, Cole knows better than to simply appear in front of her with it - if anyone is watching, the book will become suspicious, after all. So silently, softly, he descends the stairs, passing her and moving around the corner from her to carefully slip the gilded book into an empty spot on one of the allowed bookshelves.

It's only then that he reappears, poking his head around the corner where she can see him, tilting his head with an owlish blink.

"...Abby. Over here."

[armd]

Oh, he's good. Abby doesn't startle at all when he gets her attention, though she was way off on where she thought he was. He's all the way around the corner of the shelf furthest from her... so fast. She has to walk, to meet him.

"Did you–" He did. She can spot the odd-one out among the shelves, and she takes it down gleefully, rubbing her thumb across the embossed title. "Wow."

Tipping it open, to scan the contents... the pages are so thin, almost like bibles.

[helpinghidinghaunting]

Cole is - because of what he is, what he's been doing - very good at knowing how to take things without the wrong people noticing. So it's with cleverness that he carries out his tasks, even this one, even when he isn't quite sure why.

He watches Abby take the book, feeling her joy, watching the way she wonders at the words. Something like a smile tugs at his lips, eyes wide and watching.

"...Do you like it?"

[armd]

"Yeah."

It must have been up there because it's fancy. The story itself doesn't seem to be anything special (fictional, some kind of legend) but it's illustrated and heavily decorated. There are etched designs running borders around neat, seemingly hand-inked paragraphs, all written in a tight, neat script. On every single page. How long did it take to produce this?

"It's beautiful." A lot of work went into this. She traces a design with her thumb, in awe of it.

[helpinghidinghaunting]

The faint smile turns into a more proper one - the pictures on the page are pretty, yes, but it's watching Abby's face light up that really pleases him. Maybe this is why he ran in here, really. She needed this.

"I'm glad. The drawings are pretty. I can't...really read what it's about. But the binding is flashy, like the Fade."

[armd]

Does he not know how to read? Abby glances at him, trying to gauge what he said, only to find him smiling. He looks considerably at ease, and that makes her glad.

"It's called The Legend of Calenhad," she explains, showing him the front cover, the beautiful illustration. There isn't a blurb on the back, and she doesn't recognise the title at all, but she flips forward to the first page and clears her throat, skimming the first few paragraphs customarily.

"Calenhad the Great," she corrects, raising a brow, "Fancy. I think he's a knight, or something, I..."

She's reading ahead, hang on...

[helpinghidinghaunting]

"Oh?"

Despite being older than he looks, Compassion had never needed to learn to read and write - and of course, poor little Cole never stood a chance at learning before their lives became one.

So it's with very little recognition in his eyes that he squints at the pages she turns, lips occasionally working soundlessly to try and puzzle out a word or two.

[armd]

"Yeah..." Reading, reading.

Eventually, she leans toward him to show him the book, running her finger over the relevant parts of the paragraph as she explains. "They're introducing him here, explaining where he came from. He was made the squire of some guy called Ser Forannan-" The pronunciation might be a bit off, "And he went undercover as a lord... to negotiate with somebody else who wanted the throne?

Dunno which throne, though..."

General knowledge of Thedas' wars would come in handy here... The Unification of Ferelden, specifically, but Abby doesn't know that. "Ooh, he almost got killed for it."

[helpinghidinghaunting]

When she leans forward, so does he - huddling a little closer and following her finger across the phrases. He tries, but it's more than evident that he can't do so very well, only mouthing bits and pieces of short words.

Still, he is aglow with interest, especially due to Abby's enthusiasm, and he looks more relaxed than she has probably seen him thus far. The most like...well, like a boy.

"Really? But he got away?"

[armd]

Maybe it's not great that this suddenly reminds her of Lev in little, seemingly harmless ways. It's not the reading to him part– Lev read for himself, if at all– but the questions, the curiousity, the way that he leans in to see what she's showing him. The way it makes him happy.

Abby misses him so badly.

The feeling comes and goes in a wave, crashing up against her but abating when she pauses to breathe.

"... Yeah," she continues, pulling herself out of the moment, hoping Cole either didn't notice or will let it pass without comment, "They thought he was his own lord, right? And they wanted to kill the lord, but when Calenhad revealed himself and said he'd be willing to die anyway, they respected that. They let him go."

[helpinghidinghaunting]

Abby's pain is thorny, wrapped in weathered rope and soaked in blood - it surges up in her and spills out into Cole, bathing his sight briefly in dour red light.

She will, no doubt, hear the hitch in his breath match up with the wave of emotions...but she will also notice him letting that breath slowly out through his nose, blinking in his owlish way, trying to see past the light.

She doesn't need to be reminded any more right now.

So when he speaks again, it's to place his finger on the word 'though'.

"...How do you...read this word? Thawghuh?"

For now, she just needs to move forward. Cole can do that.

[armd]

Yeah, she heard it. She's relieved that he doesn't say anything more, happy that he not only passes it over, but gives the both of them something to move on to.

"Almost," she encourages, "The g is silent. It's an 'oh' sound, with a 'th' at the start. Though.

Do you want to learn how to read?"

[helpinghidinghaunting]

This is not Compassion's first time knowing when to pull instead of push.

Besides, his interest is now caught.

"Silent? How can it be silent...?"

Cole's brows knit together as he struggles to understand the concept - but when she asks him the question, he looks straight to her in surprise, blue eyes brightening.

"Yes. Really? You would teach me?"

[armd]

"... I dunno."

It just is.

But this second question she can answer no problem, "Yeah, if you want."

[helpinghidinghaunting]

At this, an actual smile crosses the boy's gaunt features, a little color rising to his cheeks with his excitement.

"I would...I would really like that. Very much."

[armd]

Abby, glancing at him, can't help but grin too, warm and sudden.

"Okay."

Here isn't really the best place for a lesson... besides, she should try to find something easier to start with. "You should come find me in the library some time."

[helpinghidinghaunting]

This is...nice.

Smiling at someone and being smiled at back. Cole is still getting used to it, but it feels...warm. He presses a hand to his chest, taking in the feeling for a moment before nodding emphatically.

"I will. I definitely will."