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Entry tags:
- abby,
- benedict quintus artemaeus,
- byerly rutyer,
- cosima niehaus,
- derrica,
- ellie,
- james flint,
- julius,
- kostos averesch,
- loxley,
- marcus rowntree,
- matthias,
- petrana de cedoux,
- tsenka abendroth,
- yseult,
- { glimmer },
- { harrowhark nonagesimus },
- { joselyn smythe },
- { jude adjei },
- { laurentius vesperus },
- { richard gecko },
- { seth gecko },
- { tony stark }
open | full circle pt 1
WHO: Concerned mages/rifters/others
WHAT: An emergency meeting!
WHEN: Solace 20
WHERE: The Gallows
NOTES: Explanation in the OOC post. Please tag this like a network post. There are top-level comments to provide a little chronology/structure, but threadjack to your heart's content.
WHAT: An emergency meeting!
WHEN: Solace 20
WHERE: The Gallows
NOTES: Explanation in the OOC post. Please tag this like a network post. There are top-level comments to provide a little chronology/structure, but threadjack to your heart's content.
Before and during dinner on an otherwise unremarkable Wednesday, there's a chain of whispers (or notes, or perfectly audible comments from the particularly unsubtle) about an emergency meeting, at an evening hour, in a basement room, regarding a matter of concern to rifters and mages.
The basement part is probably unnecessary. It's certainly ineffective; the organization is too small, the Gallows too contained, and the halls too echoey for something arranged with this much finesse-wrecking haste to truly remain a secret. They could have done it in an empty office or the recreational dining hall, probably, and sat on chairs instead of storage crates. But Kostos picked the location, and he's dramatic. If nothing else it signals a clear intention to do this as unofficially as necessary.
Anyone who accepts the invitation (or just decides to come see what the fuss is about) will first encounter Marcus Rowntree, posted up outside the door like a bouncer, letting mages and rifters move through undisturbed but stepping in to question and likely bar the arrival of anyone else. Inside, Kostos is nothing but a dark scowl in the room's far corner, picking at a splinter of wood on a crate and not mustering a word of greeting for anyone who comes in. Derrica has parked herself within arm's reach of Kostos, a long gold-edged shawl spilling over one shoulder. Her diplomacy pin gleams from the front of her tunic. The worried pinch to her brow is the only outward sign of anxiety; otherwise, she is tightly contained, watching people enter. Julius–notably not in robes–is serious but calm as people come in, standing next to the ever-composed Madame de Cedoux.
Once as many people have arrived as seem likely to, Marcus closes the door, remaining beside it, and they explain what the problem is.
no subject
He defers, asks, ] Is that an invitation?
no subject
[ This affects him as much as it affects her.
And Loxley would be good in that room. He is so likeable. That could help them, sway people to listen.
This is not why she asked. ]
no subject
[ But no, he can detect the weight of her question, can sense it in her expression, and he allows his own to sober a little. ]
Of course I will.
no subject
Thank you.
[ Because she isn't unaware that this is, in some part, for her. Because she asked him.
And she lets that sit, watching the conversations playing out in front of them before she asks— ]
What do you think?
no subject
I think, [ starting slow ] that we all need to know much more than we do, and it sounds like these Loyalists have us at a disadvantage. But that'll make crashing their party all the more satisfying.
no subject
We're going to have to make them listen to us, [ is light, though the sentiment behind it is so—
Oppressive, in what it brings out in her. Worry, for all the ways they might not. ] You'll have to help us charm them.
[ Her fingers grip at the fabric of his tunic, hanging on. ]
no subject
[ playing at flattered ]
I'll do what I can. From what I can gather [ and he has been listening, not simply to admire Derrica at a distance (or close range), but to try to get some sense of the room as a whole ], it seems we'll likely be taking a chaotically diverse approach to our diplomatic strategy.
[ —which is, in turn, a diplomatic way to put it. ]
no subject
That might serve us. We need to take up enough time for Kostos and Ellie to bring Fiona, so making seventeen different arguments all at once will be helpful.
[ Or at least, confusing for those assembled. The issue of Rifters alone may take up a day or two of debate. ]
Assuming no one tries to punch any of the other Enchanters.
[ Potentially Kostos, but there are others to worry about. They are not all diplomats by nature in this room. ]
no subject
His arm relaxes around her, hand conforming to the curve of her waist, resting there. Tempting, to pick up the banter thread, but he chooses to let it lie for the moment. ]
How worried are you? Like actually, this proposal seeing light, being acted on. Scale of one to ten.
no subject
Eight, I think.
[ It's complicated. Derrica doesn't leave it there. ]
If we can't persuade them not to send it, I'm afraid they'll be giving the Divine the opportunity she and the Chantry have been waiting for. Mages calling for Circles to be reinstated would be...
[ A small shrug underneath Loxley's bicep. He knows. It would be a true boon. And should it be used to put those ideas into motion, it would lead to something ugly, at a time when they can't afford the fight. ]
no subject
It just sounds so mad to me, the whole thing.
[ Not a new statement from him, but it's worth saying. The absolute affront of the Circles existing. Unreal to the point that this meeting hardly seems real, because the idea of his being relegated to a Circle is laughable, but here they all are, mages with strong opinions, and rifters taking it all very seriously.
And he remembers, too, their hush conversation in the tailor's supply closet in Antiva. The oddness of his magic, the magic it resembles. ]
I don't suppose we can just put all them in a Circle of their own, leave the rest of us be.
no subject
Worse, because the Circles were hard-won. Imagine, the argument for something that soured so immediately, and turned rancid, blighting generations of mages. Her fingers squeeze tighter at his hip for a moment as she sighs. ]
Maybe we should suggest that as a possibility, just so they'll argue over it.
[ Ha, ha. (Unless...) ]
I don't think the Chantry wants any of us to have a choice in this. They never have. [ And the proposal acquiesces to that. Derrica hates it. ] And now you're caught up in that too.
no subject
[ Low-key flirtation is, indeed, low-key, quietly spoken but certainly not without meaning. ]
You'll be wonderful in Cumberland.
no subject
I have to be.
[ But it is terrifying. What she's chosen to do is terrifying, worse because so much hinges on it. What if no one believes her? Or worse, what if they take all the wrong things from it? ]
Have you ever spoken in front of a room full of people before?
no subject
[ He thinks for a moment, and then says, ]
But if you'd like, you can practice with me. If you're going to prepare something. I promise I won't just shower you in compliments, although you'll forgive me if I do that a little bit.
no subject
Essential.
She's quiet for a few moments, temple pressed against Loxley's shoulder. Listening to the conversation flow around them. ]
That would be nice, [ she says, piecing the words together slowly. ] I'm worried it's a lot to ask of you.
[ Hearing the details of Dairsmuid pieced together over and over in different configurations. ]
no subject
It isn't. Or—
[ Maybe it is, actually. Big diplomatic speeches, high stakes. He amends. ]
I don't mind. It'd be an honour, actually.
no subject
Thank you.
[ Softly.
What else can she say? He must have an idea of it, what kinds of things she's going to have to arrange in this speech. It's a kindness, listening to her unspool them and rearrange them to find a palatable way to describe a bloody history. ]
ties off bow
But he feels her press her face into his arm and he dips to nudge a kiss into her hair, and doesn't worry about that for a moment. ]