faderift | Truth or Dare: The Imperial Court

Truth or Dare: The Imperial Court

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.

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He gave her a curious look at that, before he cleared his throat and stood up a little straighter. "Well then, since I shall have the honor of your first dance, at your first ball, allow me to ask with a little more decorum."

He bowed from the waist, one hand to his chest. "Would you do me the great honor of accompanying me to the dance floor for a waltz, my dear Lady Ariadne?"

It was incredibly hard for her to keep a straight face. But she reminded herself of all the times she'd infiltrated courts, pretending to be a great lady, a ripe prospect for marriage. Of course, she'd been playing a role then, not herself. But she knew the moves.

Even if there was a bit of a shine in her eyes.

She curtsied deeply again, pleased with the way her dress floated. "My Lord Norrington," she said, her nose wrinkling slightly with amusement, "I would be honored."

A pause. "I'll try not to step on your feet."

She didn't know how to waltz.

He could almost see the humor in her eyes, so he arched a sardonic eyebrow at her, before taking his hand and offering to her, palm up.

"Oh? Do you mean for once I will be the one who does not look slightly off my proverbial game? How delightful."

His smirk flashed, before he led her out to the floor. "Just follow my lead."

Ariadne accepted his hand, like the way she'd seen the ladies of court when they were practicing for a masquerade. Elegant and light. Not that it was hard for her. Her nickname was well-deserved.

"I think I can do that," she said, dipping her head.

She knew she could. Rhythm was a part of the Alastrian heritage. It was entirely possible she didn't know the steps, but she'd pick them up. Just as quickly as she picked up language or music. It was all connected to the very core of what made her what she was.

...what she had been? She wasn't sure.

He flashed a warm smile at her, as he took her hand. Light as a feather, her fingers on his. He tilted his chin and led her to the floor.

He brought her out to the floor, and rested his hand on her waist as light as her fingers were on his hand, shifted her hand to his shoulder, and gripped her other hand. Then the music began, and he started the dance off slow.

It wasn't hard to pick up at all. A single three-beat step. The real trick was following the direction he chose, but Ariadne could almost sense it.

Amazing how much dancing and fighting had in common.

Fewer bruises, she hoped.

Before too long, she'd more or less mastered it, her movements graceful and fluid. She smiled brightly, pleased with the movement every bit as much as she was pleased with her own skills. "It's a shame you don't have balls here every day," she commented.

Luckily, Norrington was well skilled in fighting, and in dancing. So as easily as she moved with him. He led her around the dance floor, sweeping them in wider and wider circles, neatly moving out of the way of other couples.

"Oh, I can't say that. I think we would all find balls exhausting after all this time." He stated with a wry smile.

"Perhaps," she conceded. "But on the other hand, if every kingdom had to prepare for a ball every day, then no one would have time to fight one another. And the economy would improve. After all, you'd need everyone to have some kind of job, to grow the grapes for the wine or to sheer the sheep for the wool of the clothes or to arrange the flowers and decorations."

She gave him an impish, little smile. "There. I've just solved all the problems of Thedas, don't you think?"

"Wouldn't we be spending all of our money on having balls and not taking care of other things?" Norrington asked, amusement flashing across his face. "Beyond that, wouldn't we all wake up every day with a hangover?"

"Only if you drink," she pointed out.

She hadn't touched anything herself. But then again, the more pleasant effects of alcohol, as she understood them, didn't really work on Alastrians.

"But think of it. Spending money on having balls would put more into the economy. And, of course, you'd want bigger and better balls. So you'd have to employ more people to make it just right. And artisans would compete to create the best and most elaborate decor, leading to a higher quality all around."

"Well I don't think I drink that much - but everyone else might. Then where would we be?"

Norrington spun her around, in and then out, before he considered. "Although it would give everyone jobs -- how would those who were throwing the balls make any money to support that?"

Ariadne's skirts blossomed like flower petals around her. Or maybe that was just how she imagined it. She felt so elegant and pretty in the moment.

"You'd charge a fee to attend the ball," she said thoughtfully. "Rather than just sending out invitations. But, of course, everyone would be willing to pay the fee. For leisure, they'd travel to other kingdoms and other balls, to learn the latest fashion and bring back inspiration for their own native balls."

"So all we would have an entire life of leisure, instead of living a life of good moral work?" Norrngton was even more amused, but she was having a good time so he allowed himself to be drawn along this flight of fancy with her.

"I think a little pleasure is all right, but not pleasure all the time. That's just overwhelming."

"Well, I'm not recommending hedonism," she said. "But a different way of doing things."

Her imagination could play the game for hours. Mostly because Ariadne believed, beyond a reasonable doubt, that people were innately good at heart.

And because she was extremely creative.

"They say my ancestors never waged war..."

"Lady Ariande, that is precisely what you are advocating. A world where all we do is work to create balls for people's amusements, in the hope that it will keep people polite enough not to say, start a war." Norrington said wryly, but with no bite to his tone. "What you are missing here is that we are currently at war, but it's a war of words and attitudes. That is the entire basis of politics and in fact, the Game itself."

That particular comment piqued his curiosity. "How did they resolve disputes?"

"I don't know," she admitted. Her father would have remembered. But Feofan's mind had been...different. Alastrian memory was a magnificent thing but his was a different circumstance entirely. Ariadne sometimes thought, in the place between sleep and awake, that he was grooming her to be his successor, to receive what he had. But she would never know.

And it was all lost now.

"I think it probably made it easier that the island they lived on was very small. Not big enough for more than one sovereignty."

"Well, that would make politics a lot simpler, I grant you. In a place like that, a ball economy could be made to work quite well." Norrington mused, as he continued to twirl Ariadne around the floor.

"Were all of your lands small islands?"

Ariadne shook her head, somehow managing to make it look just like any other step in the dance. "No," she said, catching up her hem in her hand, to keep from stepping on it. "And this was in ancient times, millennia before I was born. There are only three island kingdoms left now. The rest of them all washed away to nothingness centuries ago."

Or sank, if you believed the myths about Alastria.

And Ariadne wasn't sure.

"Every other kingdom is on a single continent, in the middle of the sea," she explained. About the size of Thedas, if I understand the maps correctly."

He raised his eyebrows at that, because that was rather startling. Still, three islands compared to an entire continent? It must be more peaceful than what they were dealing with. If only because the world was so much smaller, and probably so much less complex.

"Well, that explains why they would work well on a ball system."

"Unfortunately, I think the Red Dragon would have taken my suggestion about as seriously as you did," she said.

And she couldn't suppress a little shudder at the thought.

"Anyway," she continued, "I'm not exactly a royal adviser."

"... dare I ask who, or what, is the Red Dragon?" Because that sounded like something that one would not want to ask about in all seriousness.

Her shudder was a good indication that whatever it was, it wasn't human.

"What are you precisely, in your world, Lady Everdeen?"

Ariadne looked up at him, her eyes wide and sincere. It was funny. She was the master of using just such an earnest expression when she was telling a lie. But she had no reason to lie to him. Not about this.

Never about this.

"A refugee," she replied softly, keeping her voice just low enough to be lost to the ears of anyone eavesdropping around them. Not that she suspected anyone cared enough. Old habit. "That's precisely what I am in my world. And no lady. I doubt I could even qualify as a peasant."

Technically, she did live in North Castle. But under more than slightly unusual circumstances.

"The Red Dragon was a warlord. He leveled my home when I was a child."

"As I have said, my lady Everdeen, a lady is not where she is in station, but how she behaves." Norrington stated firmly, "As this soiree is in full evidence of, if I might be so bold to say."

He pressed his lips together, before he stated quietly, "My apologies for being so intrusive, my lady. I did not mean to bring up bad memories."

"They're not things that can be avoided," she said softly. "That's why they're called memories. They're there forever. And you have nothing to apologize for. I'm a stranger to your world. You have every right to be curious."

She would have asked just as many questions, had their positions been reversed.

More. Most likely.

"But, I suppose, now you see why I give everything I earn to the refugees here in Skyhold."

"That is so true ... " He sighed softly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Memories are forever. Perhaps, that is not such a bad thing, in some cases."

He was actually waiting for more questions.

"I do, at that. Which is why you are a lady, you realize." He said with a faint smile.

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