Truth or Dare: The Imperial Court

[madame_de_fer]

WHO: Select Orlesian and Fereldan Nobility and the Inquisition
WHAT: Josephine and Vivienne have orchestrated a good-will soiree in response to this dastardly rumor.
WHEN: Drakonis 15, Evening
WHERE: Skyhold Great Hall
NOTES:
- A list of nobles in attendance can be found here. The list was provided by the mods but there will be no npc support for them. Play away.
- A secondary outside party is being held in the valley in the tent town for anyone who couldn't/wouldn't attend and/or behave in the fancy pansty party.
- The goal of the evening is to clear up a spurious rumor about Cassandra and Leliana, with secondary goals of establishing the Inquisition as a respectable presence in Thedas (and fish for more money). Any major disruptions that would Game Over the court approval should probably be brought to the advisors and/or mods.



To say that Josphine has far outdone herself with this little soiree would be the understatement of the year. The Lady Ambassador has pulled out all the stops in providing a festive and yet elegant stage for this political intervention. Because sometimes gossip can be more deadly than a sword.

The Great Hall of Skyhold has been converted into a grand receiving hall, glittering with hundreds of lights around the room, in addition to the repairs accomplished to the original chandeliers. Of course, there has been artful placement arranged so there are a few shadowy corners for rendezvous of the more suggestive nature. Just in case. The majority of the floor has been cleared for dancing, and a fine troupe of musicians have been installed for the bulk of the evening's entertainments. Some members of the Inquisition have plans to entice attendees with their own artistic performances in addition to the group of mages performing illusory tricks to oohs and aahs.

For those who feel their energy flagging, there are chairs set against the walls, with a few tables interspersed between. Servers hired for the evening circulate the crowds with wine, fine Orlesian and Nevarran reds as well as crisp whites from Antiva. Refreshments are set out on buffet tables, tasteful and extravagant nibbles, including imported cheeses, spicy saucisson, dried fruits and nuts, and the highly sought after deep mushroom and anise petits fours that are all the rage in Orlais.

Comments

[wontforgetyou]

"Ah, she's singing tonight. It's a debut of sorts, as far as I know."

He has to admit he isn't entirely sure about how it came about other than there was some sort of interest on Madame Vivienne's end and Kallian agreed to perform. The fact that she looks very pretty tonight keeps distracting him - and it's probably just as well he's not entirely sure where she is at the moment, or he'd have a hard time keeping up on his conversation with Araceli. Or most of it, as he'd have likely picked up on that comment about Lady Odette regardless, and there's an amused sounding snort on his end as a result.

"Aye, I'm fairly sure I've seen her about. She's a wee bit obsessed with horns, from what I can tell, but if there's anyone who can get her way out of having them touched if she doesn't want to, it's Korrin."

Privately he's a little glad the worst he's had to deal with is that Baronness. She's forward, but not that forward. Well, either that or he's gotten lucky, at least for the moment. He should probably keep an eye out and make sure she doesn't decide to come back his way. And maybe check her feet for mirrors, too. But since he thinks he's fairly safe for the moment, he lets out a small chuckle.

"And alright, I'll admit it. There's not exactly an actual dance of the seven kilts. It's more a turn of phrase. It is traditional garb, though mine's more like a hunting kilt. There's a great kilt I might've worn tonight if I'd had the money to find someone who could've copied my tartan, mind, but that's quite a few yards of cloth. Don't think I could've managed it in the time I had to get something together, to tell you the truth."

[foxsays]

"I'll make sure to be there to listen, I didn't know anyone from Skyhold would be performing, usually the done thing at home is to hire others not related to the household, it's considered gauche or in bad taste to do so," she explains, "as if you think you are too good for whatever else there might be. Though the Inquisition probably has to prove it can match the very best."

And that's the trouble. Because while some people shine under such scrutiny, there are others who falter. It would be so much simpler if the Inquisition could afford to hire outsiders to do whatever they need them to do to make them look good, rather than relying on those within the walls, because everyone will have their own agendas. But she can smile about someone Jamie cares about, and cross her fingers for her.

"I think if Korrin could get away with it she'd be a lot more rude than she's being, it's the longest I've stepped out in a while but I managed to fob her off on someone else and I think Marquis Arnot is a little better; hunting stories and tales about killing dragons are more fun than watching her eye twitch and seeing how quietly I can hiss at her not to slap a hand away." She's come close but she knows these parties, she knows how so many things - for better or worse - live and die by reputation alone. The Inquisition's reputation can't even really afford much tarnishing at present.

"You break my heart, Jaime," she teases, clasping a hand dramatically to her chest as if struck. "I was fortunate enough that dresses are very similar, and that apparently blue is a particularly popular colour within the imperial court, but I've never heard of a hunting kilt. Wouldn't you scratch your legs? I can run on the rooftops in a dress if I really need to but I feel like my heart is in my mouth the whole time, I come home in a state."

[wontforgetyou]

"Aye, I've talked with the Marquis about some of the same things. He's not so bad so long as you've got tales of beasties to tell him about."

Having those has saved him from a good deal of questions about if he's a demon and if he fought demons while falling through the rift, and that's probably for the best, all things considered. He's more than a little tired of being compared to one, and if he actually opens his mouth and says something about that it likely won't do the Inquistion's reputation any favors - or the Rifters, for that matter. Luckily he doesn't have to dwell on that for long, as Araceli's dramatics bring out a rather lopsided grin on his end - one that only gets bigger as she goes on.

"Oh, aye, there's always the chance of the odd wee scratch here and there, but I'd imagine there was a point with that parkery-stuff you do where you'd gotten some yourself, dress or no dress. And I reckon that you were all that bothered by that sort of thing, either. Now, keeping skirts or kilts in place so they don't go up quite so far while you're doing that sort of thing...that's a bit trickier."

[foxsays]

"Luckily for me, Korrin fought a dragon and she brought a few things back with her, and there was the Fallow Mire. Oh and this thing I saw when I went to Antiva to rescue Zevran, they called it a flesh golem? Truthfully, I prefer the Red Templars to that."

And all of them, even the flesh golem, she prefers to the demons since she still has nightmares about those after Stannis decided to draw the comparison because the imagination likes to run away with itself. A despair demon reaching for you and you tend not to forget how cold that is, not when you've managed to kick the covers off in the night in Skyhold and roll yourself away from the warm part of the bed.

"I tried to avoid that usually, a thief that makes a mess is a thief that gets caught, if I got scrapes it was when the guards were chasing me. And usually that'd be if I slept too late in someone's bed and their father, or maybe their husband or lover, was rather displeased to find me and sent everyone off on a merry chase after me. I mean I can fix a dress so it looks like a very ugly pair of shorts if I must, I had to fight a duel once at short notice, it was one of those days, I'm sure you can imagine, but do you have to weigh yours down? I have dresses that actually do have little weights sewn in the hems of the skirts."

Running in them hurts. Her poor bruised ankles.

[wontforgetyou]

Weighing down skirts - or kilts, in his case - isn't an unfamiliar concept to Jamie, and he nods, willing to admit that he's taken advantage of that little trick himself.

"I've done that before. It's come in handy where you've wound up in a place with a lot of wind."

It's not the most pleasant sensation in the world, but he doesn't bruise all that easily. After awhile, it's something he's simply gotten used to - although he could see where it would be uncomfortable for someone else. He does wind up looking somewhat surprised, though, because it's not all that often that he's wound up talking with a lassie that seems so nonchalant about having wound up fighting while (presumably) being dressed up, and now he's curious.

"Wait, though, you're saying that you've had a day where you've wound up dressed up and then found yourself having to fight a duel? What happened?"

[foxsays]

With a fond smile and a sigh, she leans in with a quick glance; this is a story she might have to tell again, or one she might tweak in just the right way if she's to use it for part of the other life she'll have to build in Thedas to help the Inquisition. Besides, it's fun to recount something that might have the hint of a scandal about it.

"Castileos is a place where reputation means a great deal; we are selfish yet we are all expected to be able to work together so we must be able to resolve a difference quickly, to be able to think entirely as a group, to move as one, a crew on a ship, many hands before the mast. Duels are common, and in truth a lot of them are resolved with the strutting, the swaggering, the calling of names and a little clashing of steel before we are all friends again with the wagers exchanged but I had been at a party with a young lady attached to some young man who took exception to the two of us enjoying the company of one another. Insults were hurled, and well the only proper way to settle it in such a place was with a duel, I wasn't about to let my reputation be called out by some puffed up merchant's boy." After all, if his young lady love wanted other people in her bed and came looking for Araceli then that's not Araceli's fault because she wasn't even aware of the existence of said young man.

"He was all flash and no substance, a swordtail we call them, zipping about as if they are the brightest thing but he was in the dirt whimpering before I was even out of breath. I gave him a little cut just because there are rules, on his cheek, and his lady and I enjoyed the rest of our evening after he ran away with his tail between his legs."