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

[aceso]

"You did not ask to be here, and it would be cruel to leave you rifters with no guidance on your arrival. I was glad to be of help to you." Since returning to Skyhold, she'd been busy, and hadn't thought to check up on Hermione. Since she was settling, that was one worry off Christine's chest: that she could have done more than she had.

[bookish_lioness]

"The fact that you would have thought it cruel speaks to your character," Hermione remarked easily. "Many people would have just told me enough to get me to close the rift and leave me on my way, but you were actually trying to keep me safe. I do appreciate it, and if there's any way I can thank you, please let me know."

[aceso]

"Oh, it is not necessary. I am happy to help those in need." All part of being a healer, really. Of course, there was a part of her that adored praise and being told she did well, so she looked rather pleased at Hermione's words.

"What do you think of your first Thedas soiree? Though, to be honest, it is my first as well." She had never attended the silly little gatherings the nobles would have where they told the Circle to bring them mages for entertainment. She was not a dog to do tricks at someone's snapping fingers.

[bookish_lioness]

Hermione drew in a breath, looking around at the other attendants at the soiree. She didn't want to say something negative, so she tried to aim for neutral, at the very least. "It's... an experience. I've been to parties, but none of them have ever had such a blatantly political bent to them. I used to be one of the only ones among my friends with any strong opinions, but I'm surrounded by them here. It would be nice, if not for the fact that there are some of them who seem to think I don't get to have an opinion."

Either because she was a rifter, a "mage", or simply because she wasn't playing this peculiar "Game" correctly.

[aceso]

"People here can be very judgmental; very harsh, it is true." The only people Christine tended to be harsh on were Templars. And Fereldans, though that was more a joke than anything. She was Orlesian, therefore, she had to criticize Ferelden. And also Tevinter, come to think of it.

"Thankfully, not everything is about what you say, but what you do, and these nobles seem to do very little. At least we have the moral high ground."

[bookish_lioness]

The Orlesians were critical of all sorts of people, it seemed. It amazed her that a few of them actually seemed decent, even if it was a very small few.

"It's also about what people think you do, isn't it?" Hermione asked, just a touch bitterly. "I've had so many people asking me all sorts of... politically incorrect questions, and no matter what I say, few of them see anything beyond a rifter that gets pointed at these rifts and acts as a weapon of the Inquisition."

[aceso]

Christine's expression shifted to slightly puzzled. 'Politically incorrect' was a phrase she'd never heard before. But the words on their own made sense. She supposed it meant not doing well at the Game, if the politics were incorrect.

"I am sorry to say that is all most people will ever see. You are an oddity, and an unknown. That means you could be dangerous, though most conveniently forget that everyone has the capability to be dangerous too. If all they think of you is that you can close rifts, then they at least have the story the Inquisition wishes to spread: that we need you, and you are all saving lives by stopping demons pouring from these rifts."

[bookish_lioness]

Considering that the politics of Thedas as a whole were so different from what she was used to, Hermione should have guessed that calling something politically incorrect likely wouldn't have been understood the way it would back home. But she hadn't quite yet learned to be overly particular about her words, aside from whenever she might normally choose to use popular idioms or references.

She was silent for a moment before asking, "And what would happen if they didn't know that story? If we couldn't close the rifts, or if they thought we were more of a risk than a help? I've already met one person with the Inquisition who seems to distrust all rifters - especially the ones who can do magic; meeting other people who feel the same and who also happen to have substantial clout within their governments wouldn't bode well for anyone."

[aceso]

"Then you would be about as useful as they think mages are, which is to say, not at all." Her lips pressed together in an expression she often made, signaled by the lines that appeared at the corners of her mouth.

"You have a purpose, and for now, that is enough for them. I cannot say what the future holds."

[bookish_lioness]

As much as she hates to think of the skies of Thedas being torn open and continuously having demons and new, unsuspecting rifters being dropped onto the ground, Hermione also doesn't want to think of what might happen the day there are no more rifts that need closing. Shuddering a little, she glances down at her hand and murmurs, "As nice as all of this is - tonight, this gala, with all its trimmings - I hope we can figure out some way to get back home before people start thinking us useless. From what I've seen and heard and read about the treatment of the mages, I don't think I want to be here the day certain people realize they don't need a foreign mage with a shard in her hand sitting freely about the hold."

[aceso]

"I hope that too. People have been trying to research, but the rifts can be dangerous and have killed some who study them, if the demons don't first." Your Trainer out in the lower courtyard was a grim reminder of the results of the pursuit of knowledge if it was a dangerous thing. It made Christine want to take every precaution with red lyrium.

[bookish_lioness]

"Surely people don't go out to study them without some manpower readily available?" Hermione asks, looking mildly scandalized. "If they pour out as many demons as they had the day I'd arrived here, how can one person think he or should would be safe simply going out there alone?" She certainly has no intention of leaving Skyhold without her own fair share of weapons, including several pairs of strong hands to wield those weapons.

[aceso]

"There are some scholars who prefer to work alone," she replied with a disapproving shake of her head. "Those who study rifts, dragons, demons, anything dangerous you can think of. But even those going in a group find their numbers reduced by the end of it."

[bookish_lioness]

"But at least there are survivors to tell the tale and salvage whatever knowledge had been gained," Hermione pointed out. "Going out alone, no one even knows if you're ever coming back. How horrible would that be, stumbling across some great discovery, only to end up dead in a ditch or in some animal's belly before you can get back to safety and publish it?"

[aceso]

"It would be horrible," she said, eyes downcast. "Sometimes bodies are found, and their notes. It is discovered what they were trying to do, and easy to put the pieces together to see how they died. So you see, studying rifts is a dangerous endeavor, and cannot be entered lightly by just anyone with time and ambition."

[bookish_lioness]

"Time, ambition, the ability to fight, and the contacts to bolster their numbers should something happen," Hermione pointed out. "It's a valorous cause, I'm sure, but hopefully no one has been foolish about jumping into the thick of things without taking the proper precautions."

[aceso]

Christine raised her gaze, looking grim. "Hopefully, yes. But let us talk no more of such dark things. This party is trial enough without adding to it."

[bookish_lioness]

Talking about hypotheticals almost seemed to be cheerful when compared to talking about the reality of this particular party, but she couldn't necessarily expect Christine to understand that. "I wouldn't call this a trial. It's just a matter of forcibly mingling with masked nobles who may or may not have strong opinions about my being a rifter, never mind one who can do magic. What's so bad about that?"

[aceso]

Christine couldn't help but looked surprised at Hermione's opinion that this was not a trial, but then she went on and her expression relaxed.

"Oh, nothing," she answers breezily. "A walk in the garden is more dangerous. You might trip on a pebble. This is as easy as breathing, no?"

[bookish_lioness]

"It's almost as simple as saving the world," Hermione replied just as airily, though her lips did quirk up into a small smile by this point. "And just about as fun. No wonder so few people seem so concerned about this Corypheus bloke walking about."

[aceso]

Christine let out a huff. "There are many who question whether he is even real. Yet those of us at Haven saw him before we evacuated. But that is what this soiree is hoping to accomplish. We are showing people that the Inquisition takes this threat seriously, and will work to stop it."

[bookish_lioness]

"They doubt him because they can't see him, despite the fact that people have lost their lives because of him?" Hermione asked. It was like Voldemort's return all over again, wherein people in key positions of power refused to believe he'd come back until things had gotten too bad to fix. "Really, you'd think more people would at least be willing to prepare their lands and their individual families for the worst."

[aceso]

"Yes. When the enemy is unseen, people will make any excuse they can as to what is happening out there. They do not understand until it is too late and the enemy is at their door." But maybe they could change minds tonight. It was a big 'maybe,' but stranger things had happened, like people falling out of rifts in the sky.

"Right now, the conflict between mages and Templars is what grabs people's attention most. We must shift it to the threat over the whole world that we must face."

[bookish_lioness]

"I thought these rifts people like me fell out of had been caused by what had happened at Haven," Hermione brought up. "Or, at least, that people hadn't started coming through the rifts until then. That they can see us, with shards in our hands, and still think that Haven had never happened? It's willful ignorance."

And while Hermione might not be a fan of ignorance, the willful variety is the worst there is.

[aceso]

"The rifts are scattered throughout southern Thedas, but those who do not live near one will think they are nothing more than stories. If not that, then I am sure they blame the rifts on mages."

Because what wasn't blamed on them in her opinion?

"People fear change, and they think their ignorance serves them well."