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

a;

[foxsays]

Since their meeting on the rooftops with Leliana, she still hasn't ever truly spoken with Beleth. She's had a few greater concerns of late that have seen her craving a certain measure of solitude, time alone with her lute on the rooftops or working through the reading list. Tonight? Tonight is like being home, only without the rest of the guard and with only her knife very carefully hidden on her person, securely strapped to a thigh but beneath the full skirts of her gown then there's no way to spot it.

Only Korrin will be getting her out of it, despite whatever a certain Comte might have deluded himself about earlier in the evening.

The Marquis Arnot is on her arm when she approaches, Araceli leaning in close with a conspiratorial smile, and the subject becomes very clear when they're finally within earshot. "You must ask Councillor Korrin Ataash, I can make the introduction myself, she is very dear to me and many times have we fought so many terrible creatures together. It was the Kaltenzahn she fought in Emprise du Lion, after the terrible beast savaged our camp. But please, allow me to introduce Beleth Ashara, a Dalish hunter, one of the very best."

Hi Beleth, please talk to this man with her because he throat is more parched than the Wester Approach and he's barely letting her breathe let alone drink some of her wine.

[arlathvhen]

Beleth does not hold it against anyone to want their solitude. She has not exactly been a social butterfly lately, either--Though that has changed for the evening. She's been intermingling with nobility and Inquisition alike, using the setting of masks and frivolity as a chance to socialize in a way that she finds startlingly easy.

Which is why she's instantly smiling when Araceli approaches with a Marquis, holding out her hand for him to take. She flashes another smile at Araceli, warm and dazzling and almost real, even. "You are going to make me blush with all this flattery, Araceli. You are simply too kind, but I fear you will prime the Marquis up for disappointment when I don't match up to such lovely introductions."

But if Araceli needs a break, Beleth will grant her one. After all, they're going to be students together, and she is Korrin's lady. Either one would be good enough for the elf to give the other woman a hand. And so she turns to the Marquis, all doe eyes and fluttering eyelashes. "You're interested in hearing about the dangerous creatures the Inquisition has faced, then? Well, as a hunter, I'm sure nothing I saw was out of the ordinary for someone so distinguished. But you would be amazed by what I've seen with the Inquisition--We are making so much progress in all sorts of troubled lands!"

She'll let Araceli pay her due the next time Comte Daucourt attempts to talk to her.

[foxsays]

It's the work of a moment to slip away, three glasses balanced with the care only someone used to crowded tavern can carry them with, offering them out before she takes a drink. A smile is flashed over the rim of Araceli's, there and gone in the blink of an eye. Swallowing hurts, the sweetness of the wine cloying compared to what she prefers but it's enough.

"Now Beleth, we both know that to be simply impossible, think of the many places you have been; I know we both ventured into the Fallow Mire, and to Emprise du Lion." But Beleth has the advantage of being Dalish, and though Leliana's words about the underestimations of elves had been meant for Beleth's ears, she isn't so stupid as to forget about them. Tonight the Inquisition needs to impress; most of the servants (almost all, in fact) are elven, and most elves of the Inquisition have been mistaken at least once already.

If Araceli was at home, she might've been mistaken for something else if it hadn't been specifically stated she came at the queen's command or alongside her fellow guards. Besides, if it comes down to it, there's a story very few of them can share: how many will have heard of flesh golems. Not a happy tale but you use every trick you have up your sleeve when you need to. She raises her glass to Beleth though, happy to pitch in as needed.

The Comte is thirsty work. At least the ladies have a cleavage you can quietly distract and console yourself with.

[arlathvhen]

The wine is accepted with a grateful smile, and a sip taken. Briefly, Beleth recalls the first time she tried wine, after the mages' first attempt at organization, and Lady Adelaide had thrown a somewhat impromptu party. The wine had seemed overly sour then, and little had changed since that first taste. But she drinks anyway, keeping her face neutral. The only expression she allows is when Araceli continues to compliment her, and Beleth gives a fake, but pleasant little titter.

Okay, so no one needs to know that the only places she's ever been outside of her clan have been with the Inquisition, that's just. A detail that she's going to leave out.

"Well...I didn't see much creatures in the Fallow Mire. Nothing alive at all, really. Even everything moving seemed pretty dead--there was that dead horse." Pause. Maybe talking about half-rotted horses with swords sticking out of their heads wasn't the best plan. She clears her throat, smiles as charmingly as she can, and gives a little shrug. "Emprise du Lion was pretty incredible, as well. I heard that some people fought a High Dragon." Not that she saw the dead horse, or the high dragon.

Wow, she was leading an exciting life.

[foxsays]

In all honesty, Araceli prefers brandy and rum herself, prefers something spiced and honest, something with punch; the wines tonight are for those who pretend to have sophisticated palates and yet clearly do not because expensive doesn't always mean good, complicated doesn't always mean good, and sweet, dry things that hail from exotic locales usually mean someone is pulling a fast one on you. Araceli knows merchants, and the sourness of some of these wines, and the sweetness of the others has her firmly believing you could serve an Orlesian vinegar, charge them a king's ransom, and say it was crafted from grapes and spices that bloomed but once every fifty years and they'd believe you.

Nobles can be like that, it's why she made a living relieving them of their possessions.

"A dead horse? And to think my tentmates only thought to inform me of the more mundane creatures, I suppose that is Fereldans for you though." That is something she picked up on within moments, something that gets people easily on her side but she's glad they didn't, because even burning the undead still doesn't sit well with her. The customs of the country and the lands prevail, but still, it unsettles her. "Many of us were present when the camps were attacked. This was after we had fended off Red Templars, and so many wolves that seemed to have been driven mad. My lover, Korrin Ataash of the Mage Council? She faced one of those dragons, she brought back souvenirs but alas, those are in our private quarters."

And no, no one is seeing the inside of those quarters except the two of them despite whatever nonsense she's feeding the Lady Odette to keep her sweet until it's time to say goodnight.