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

[fightingale]

She doesn't want to talk about the past or Leliana or what she is or was and the misunderstandings and the delusions that her companions of years past seem to desperate to hold onto. "Maybe it is all a matter of your perception," she offers instead, fantastically unhelpful and evasive, and her smile asks Morrigan not to press it. She can only hope that Morrigan complies.

"Ah, but that is a plan likely to go up in flames sooner than work." Gently wry and teasing, and yet there is something faintly protective in her reasoning for the response, even if it is not audible. Cassandra might be headstrong and brash and foolish, but she is someone Leliana has held in high esteem, nonetheless, and she remembers how brutal the lash of Morrigan's words can be. "I think your wit has better targets, and more willing victims."

Herself included, as the case may be. It seems an apt enough response to both the barbs for the Seeker and the teasing directed at Leliana, which makes her arm press steadier at Morrigan's back. "I'll trust you if you trust me. Fair?"

Probably not, really. No one should trust a bard, but she and Morrigan have always existed a little outside the rules of propriety.

[arcaneadvisor]

Were this not a ball and a dance, she would sigh, instead she would very dearly like to roll her eyes but covers it with a smirk and lift of the brows, the sort of thing she's never managed to make herself grow out of, not when she realised how quickly she could use it to aggravate Celene to no end. "I shall defer to your expertise then, shall I?" It comes out as a question when it's more an offer, an olive branch extended and she's been doing that a lot tonight, making these strange overtures but she would have Leliana's friendship, and if she cannot have that then she would have them at least being able to be something more than merely civil if they're to work together.

"She had the gall to wonder if Vivienne had proposed marrying me off, as if she would still draw breath if she had." Only Morrigan would smile so openly at voicing such a thing but well, we take our little pleasures where we find them, don't we Leliana? Surely Lord Afton's demise has been plotted at least half a hundred times tonight by whomever he has struck up a conversation with. "I was rather disappointed she played the wallflower, I did think the Hands of the Divine to be made of rather sterner stuff but then who might hold a candle to you after all, if you are offering yourself up in her stead."

Because that has been heard by all those leaning close, there is no way out, she will remember that.

She inclines her head, looking up through her lashes as if coy but well, how often does she make such gestures, how often has she ever voiced them? "Very fair, I will hold you to your word then Leliana."

Again, Leliana. Always, Leliana. That is who she trusts because she is there, somewhere, and if there is one who recognises things thought lost and how to find them then there are none who can argue with her opinion, least of all those lost things.