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

[foxsays]

"If I counted the men? Also six. But I've made it a point to never get myself entangled with men like that so they never get counted." Less a rule and more the simple matter of preference but much more comes attached to noble men than noble women, and she dallies with the daughters that aren't true pieces on the boards yet. "Lady Odette would probably swallow her tongue if I invited her to move somewhere a little more private with Korrin and myself, not that it's going to happen but if I can keep her sweet long enough…"

She laughs, because this part is fun, though the temptation to slap Odette's hands will only grow by the hour.

"At least at First Day someone simply wouldn't let go of the notion I'm still some Antivan dowager's long lost whatever, tonight one of them muttered something about 'an educated creature from the beyond, how bizarre'. I've heard worse and kept smiling."

Zevran knows about her being a guard as much as he knows about her being common, being a pirate's daughter, a whore's daughter. There isn't much imagining about what 'worse' entails for her.

[ombranera]

"They are so much fun to tease though, are they not?" Especially if nothing will come of it- trailing over the line from teasing to intent was a delicate dance, but one they are both versed well enough in to make the most of it without committing to anything. "She might stop reaching for that which is not hers, yes?"

He'd been minding the Lady Odette, mostly to ensure she had no such feelings for elves and head her off at the pass were that the case, he is accustomed to such things and many of the rest here are in no position to do something about it.

"Perhaps we might spin the Antivan tale along, I have a few contacts that could make it quite useful for you in the future." He takes her hand, squeezing it gently.

[foxsays]

"She in particular reminds me of a lot of ladies I've known, a few years older but her kind? I've clambered out their bedroom windows plenty of times in my life." There's a joke in there about how easy they are - scandalous, given the decorum expected of them even in Castileos where it should at least be with their own class - but she takes the high road tonight. Perhaps she feels guilty that she isn't the one to be reached for, relieved that being human is a common thing, that her parentage and her life doesn't draw the wrong kind of attention.

It isn't something that she allows to bother her much, not for quick flings, but nobles go to the same parties so there's every chance she's going to have to deal with the people gathered tonight again.

"I'd be interested to hear what tale they would spin regarding my hand," she murmurs because that's the truth, and well, there's bard training to consider, carving out a separate persona for that and she squeezes back with a grateful smile.

[ombranera]

"Those from here have suffered the shards as well. You could say you are with the Inquisition seeking a way to remove it safely." An easy enough lie to spin should she desire. He had those that would help and those that would find it fun to help- less a question of debts and such if it is all in the name of pulling one over on the nobility.

[foxsays]

"Sometimes there is a small part of me that wishes I had arrived under different circumstances," she admits very softly, so that she will know the masks and gowns of any leaning close enough to hear the words. "But it would have made what you and Korrin both know much harder, still, at least I know it's an option for me now."

Still, a little part of her wonders how she might have handled it had she simply fallen as those from that very small group in Emprise du Lion had, with no one to rescue them. She wouldn't have such close friends, that she knows, there would always have to be a wall between her and them, no one straying too far beneath the surface.

Instead she smiles as if she's said something scandalous, leaning so very close to his ear and laughs. "I hope the Rivaini sailors one of the scouts likes to tell me of would have as crude jokes about green hands as my own do, even you would blush to hear the sort of things they'd say."

Easier to play with the truth, to poke and prod at it until it resembles what you want after all.