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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Sina grins at Araceli's disappointment, reaching forward to pat her arm sympathetically. "Maybe it's too crowded," she reassures her, "and I'd hate to see any blood shed on the dance floor." She can't fathom why anyone would intentionally pick a fight with someone else, but she recognizes that Araceli is quite different from her. Perhaps she just needs to let off some steam.

"That's what a party like this is for though, you don't always see it but so much of it is intended just for that purpose," she replies, leaning closer as she glances significantly in the direction of Bernadette and Odette. She can keep the warm smile on her face, as if she's just letting Sina know about them over her glass of wine. "One jokes about getting rid of the other, casting an eye about for an assassin she might meet with one day to get the job done. A duel is more than just a fight, there's an art to it whether it's here or out in the street."

It's at this moment that Sina realizes just how oblivious she is to the way things work around here. When Araceli leans down to discuss the sisters again, Sina follows her gaze, blinking in mild, wary confusion.
"...I see," she says quietly, uncertainly. Looking at them for a moment longer, she then turns to meet Araceli's eyes. "....well whatever it is you're up to, you'll be careful, won't you?"

With a reassuring smile, she gives her head a shake. "I'm not in the business of assassinations. If it weren't for Korrin I would absolutely try to bed one or both of them, maybe relieve them of some coin and get some scandalous stories but," she says with a wink, "I am a respectable honest woman these days."

Better to steer the conversation away before a few worries and a little too much drink get her into trouble. "Have you enjoyed yourself? I didn't know if you would come or not but I'm so glad you are, perhaps next time you'll save a dance for me as well?"

Sina's light but Araceli's short and not made of muscle, she would've injured the both of them trying to do what Korrin did.

Of course that assurance in itself is enough to scandalize Sina, but in an innocent, trying-not-to-be-amused way. "So you are," she cheerfully replies, then nods vigorously to Araceli's question. "Of course I will! I won't even need a party, I'll be happy to just be on my feet again."

"Do the healers know how long that will be?" Casting an eye about, she finds somewhere to set her wine down for a moment as she works her corset loose for a second so she can bend without threatening to cut herself in half. She doesn't need to faint at the party, although if pressed, a mock swoon would do if needed. Truth be told, part of her is honestly still amazed that Sina survived what happened to her based on what Korrin told her in their tent out in the snow. "Before you're up and dancing I mean."

Sina watches her curiously, mystified by the idea of corsets and... well, any other strange thing that the noble humans wear, and she doesn't blame Araceli for fidgeting. The question elicits a giggle, however, and she shrugs, a bit sadly. "Likely not for another month at least," she sighs, "but I'm not complaining, I'm grateful enough to be out of the tent."

"Keep an eye for a second will you?" Araceli asks before she turns promptly so her back is to the room, luckily out of view as she sets about adjusting the corset efficiently, clearly having done this plenty of times before. Reaching behind to tighten the laces again, she looks down, adjusts herself again, then straightens everything out. "I'm even, right? Skyhold doesn't have enough pillars to go do this sort of thing behind."

Then again Skyhold still has a tent city and holes in the roof, and it's spending all this money feeding a pack of rude Orlesians talking rudely to everyone they consider beneath them. It's far too much like behing at home.

"I don't always go up on the rooftops, if you want company somewhere outside the tent I could come with you. I'm studying in the library these days, history, politics, culture, and Korrin and I share a room, you'd always be welcome to spend a few hours there too if you'd like. It's warm and dry, and the bed is comfortable. A change of scenery can make all the difference to a recovery."

"That..."

Sina is immediately distracted by what Araceli is doing, which is both extremely confusing and... well, that other thing. She blushes vividly, eyes wide, and then looks away, lips pursed in an expression of discomfort. Wwwelp.

"...sounds nice." She didn't actually hear anything Araceli said.

"Sina?" She glances up from studying her dress and taking another look at the hall to see if she was noticed before coming to her side, wrapping an arm about her. "A girl needs a second opinion of these things at parties, that's why we ladies need to travel in packs to make adjustments," she teases fondly.

A pity that this isn't home where the queensguard can all be found in a neat little circle, lacing one another into corsets and skirts, though maybe for the best and though she won't be the only bard here, and though she knows she doesn't know Beleth well, she can't even imagine that sort of closeness between the two of them.

"Don't tell the healers I made you turn this red or they'll hit my knuckles with a switch until they turn the same shade as your cheeks."

Sina smiles self-consciously when Araceli puts an arm around her, but enjoys it nonetheless. She leans her head against her slightly, but her affection turns quickly to horror at the joke.
"What?? They would do that?!" She's never heard anything so barbaric in her life, and she's literally from the forest.

Laughing very softly, she nods, a few stray curls beginning to escape from the pins and pearls she'd painstakingly styled her hair into so many hours ago as she closes her eyes and leans in.

"Did your teachers not do that? I had a few who would when I wasn't paying the proper attention; I was a girl that couldn't sit still, I always wanted to be outside, running, climbing, getting into trouble or hearing stories at the docks not inside from my tutors. They would rap me over the knuckles for it, so would Marjani, the woman would taught me to duel but she would do it with the flats of her rapiers. I learned very quickly not to let my mind wander around her."

Sina smiles helplessly, shaking her head with a sympathetic look, though she's given pause when she remembers something.
"...Isen once shot an arrow up Fen'Harel's nose," she says in a near whisper, "...a statue, of course. Isen and Nari and I-- well, they got in trouble themselves, but the Keeper was displeased with me for being there." She continues smiling, even it becomes more bashful, and a little uncertain. "...no...rapping on knuckles, though I suppose it wasn't too dissimilar?"
She has a strange look on her face, as though resurfacing a memory that hasn't been worth bringing back in years. "She clasped my hand and warmed her own until it was burning hot, and I couldn't pull away till she let me." She tilts her head, then shakes it. "...it only happened once or twice. I never disobeyed her intentionally."

"There were lots of other punishments that my mother could come up with; brothels are busy places, there's plenty to keep a girl busy. Scrub this Araceli, dust that, I want to see my reflection in those tiles my girl. Polishing endlessly. Some of my tutors would make me copy things until my fingers ached and I had ink up to my knuckles that I had to scrub out, but they all learned very quickly that sending me to the kitchens wasn't a punishment, I liked running around there too much and the cooks were only too glad to have someone who wanted to be there so they never kept me scrubbing or washing the dishes if they could show me how to help them cook instead. That was dangled as a carrot, everything else was the stick. It make shock you to learn that I was something of a willful child, it was why I left home by my fifteenth birthday even though my mother wasn't in a real hurry to have me gone."

The thought of burning though makes her wrinkle her nose, curling her hands away and into her gown as if she might shield them, conjuring memories of the smell of it and how it sticks in your nose for hours after and she shakes her head to clear it.

"I take it both of you having magic means that it wouldn't burn you the same way something would me, say the time I wanted to test to see if the stove truly was hot for myself."

These punishments still sound strange to Sina, even as accustomed as she's become to humans and their ways of living. She is, of course, not shocked by Araceli being willful-- in fact, few things have shocked her less in her life. She smiles.

"Oh, well it didn't actually... it wasn't actually burning," she tries to explain, "just hot. It didn't leave a mark." She looks consideringly at her hand. "I think I'd burn same as you, if I were to touch fire without some manner of shield."

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Truth or Dare: The Imperial Court

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