003 - voice (open to both courts)

[digophelia]

[ Time has passed since Alice found herself here, but not by much. It feels like ages, on one hand. She's stressed and irritated, choosing to keep the locket to voice this time. She hasn't sleep well, although that's not news, she never sleeps well. This could be brought on from pieces of her hallucinations.'

Maybe it would have been wiser for this to be excluded to my court, but it doesn't matter does it? Young I may be, but I've come to learn that ideas such as "good" or "evil" are nothing more than concepts sometimes and explanations offered up by those who cannot accept a mind is capable of doing heinous things that they themselves loathe. It is really no secret that so many of us chose to find ourselves in between the courts. And yet, there's something inside of each of us that compels us to fight, apparently, the things I've heard. I'm stating the obvious for some, I know. How can so many of us content ourselves currently that these shards could force us into doing so much more?

[ Alice pauses. She's tense in her voice. ]

Is there really nothing else to convince certain seelie residents here to reconsider their positions before we find ourselves facing one another down in battle? Are we that great of fools that we are not able to rationally talk to one another? I implore some of you to remember that us unseelie court members are in this as much as you are.

[ Just as Alice finishes that sentence, her voice betrays how really worn she sounds. ]

Comments

voice.

[smallshoes]

I can't speak for all of the Seelie, um, court, but I - I absolutely don't want to hurt anybody. Still, if something happens, I can't be asked to stand by idly.

That said... I would rather us find some peace.

[This sort of talk makes Elizabeth anxious, and it's difficult for her, as a girl so full of emotion, to keep it out of her voice. She hasn't yet gotten used to the idea of taking a real sword to a real human being.]

voice.

[digophelia]

[ Oh, no, she sounds far too young for this sort of thing. ]

Any sensible person would, I think. I'd rather not use my knife against anyone, either, and I don't like the prospect of being forced to.

voice.

[smallshoes]

Well, do you think... that there are really those of us who aren't sensible people?

[She, as of yet, hasn't run into the more sinister members of either court.]

voice.

[digophelia]

[ That strikes her as a little naive, painfully childish. She can't fault her for it, again, she sounds too young. Alice hates to think that someone like that has yet to learn the real nature of humanity. She's tense when she finally speaks up after a moment. ]

I'm afraid not, no. It seems there's stubborn people on either side.

voice.

[smallshoes]

[For all of Elizabeth's potential in battle, she is only a little girl, and has never been asked to be anything but that; at fourteen, she spends so much of her time thinking of cute clothes and the boy she loves. But she's been raised to do a duty, and that duty is to protect people. Naive as she still is, she's determined to learn and grow here— though it frightens her, too.]

At least be stubborn about going home, then. None of us should be here hurting each other.

Especially because not everybody can fight. Some of these people won't know how to defend themselves. It's not right.

[She hesitates, and then, though unseen, ducks her head out of embarrassment, clutching her locket.]

—I'm sorry. You know that already. It's just... I don't know why anybody would want...

voice.

[digophelia]

You have no need to apologize to me.

[ At that age, Alice endured too much. Regular mistreatment in Rutledge and even when she was younger, she had gotten so fed up with it, she had stolen a kitchen knife and used it against orderlies and then some.

It's why she was so angered by Maglor's words. ]

I'm sure most of us are not soldiers and are nowhere near prepared for this sort of thing. It's a matter of pride; some nonsense of a family heirloom of mystical properties is being coveted.

voice.

[smallshoes]

That's a terrible reason to wage war.

voice.

[digophelia]

It's not terrible, it's stupid and even more stupid a man would think himself so little he would throw his life way for it.

voice

[bird_brain]

[His accent is obvious this time: rolling his r's and hissing sibilants.] I suspect you are speaking of particular people in this court. I would speak to peace, but it is not my decision to make.

voice

[digophelia]

As a matter of fact, yes. I have already implored someone from my court to consider it, and he was insistent it wasn't possible. It can't be, isn't there anything to settle this peacefully?

voice

[bird_brain]

Know this: I will defend those who need defending. I will defend myself if it should come to that. I would rather that is does not come to that, but I fear that there are less reasonable people are the forefront of this... movement.

voice

[digophelia]

And I would do the same.

Where I come from, rulers come together to speak and resolve their differences. Long since has anyone met force with force at the risk of others.

voice

[bird_brain]

Therein lies our problem: Unseelie and Seelie courts have no one voice among them. We do not have leaders.

voice

[digophelia]

And perhaps it should stay that way or at the very least, have those who have plenty of experience to talk to the other side before this escalates further. Leadership does not need to fall into one person, it should be co-operative.

Re: voice

[bird_brain]

Indeed it should. One person's view must be tempered by another's; it's the only way it works. However, we may not have the luxury of the time needed to establish a sensible council.

voice

[digophelia]

Why not? Why can't that jewel be relinquished to it's rightful owners?

Text, Private

[gordianknots]

I am in complete agreement with everything you've said here, but everyone unfortunately has their own priorities that they see as the most important at the moment. The key, for the time being, is to talk to folks and convince them that what you're saying should be their number one thing too.

With some of the personalities on both sides of the courts, this is easier said than done.

Text, Private

[digophelia]

Their own priorities or not, with this many unwilling and salivating at the prospect of war, one would think that something so simple as conversation wasn't so difficult. The tides can be changed or we're all doomed.

permaprivate

[gordianknots]

There's several individuals involved that want there to be a fight, which is what I think you're missing. Having spoken to one, that person's understanding is that a decisive victory gets them back home faster. Utter rubbish, of course, but not from that person's perspective.

[digophelia]

And how many of those willing to fight outweigh those who don't and have no experience? There are those who are too young to engage in battle.

[gordianknots]

You're missing my point a little, miss, although some of that may be on me for not being clear.

Those loud voices are going to drown out others. But that's an advantage. People who don't want to engage with fighting have an opportunity to speak to each other and form their own alliances during this time with little supervision, that can become advantageous as things progress.

[digophelia]

And what if those who want to use diplomacy and speak to others road off before the forces did? Will they be met with blades?

[gordianknots]

You figure out where the problem people are going first. You take along at least a few individuals who can fight in case you run into problems. You make sure you use neutral ground (like the station) to meet. Research other locations as well.

You're practically suggesting organizing a resistance, going after specifications like this.

[digophelia]

My fear is that the unseelie forces have already begun to move. I am in the neutral grounds already, seeing as I wanted to stay out of feuds.

I'm afraid I am not the first to speak of a resistance; it was King Thranduil of the seelie court who spoke of it before me. He is right, however, and I agree with him.

[erythristic]

But what when we have talked, and nothing is gained? Would you have us retreat, refine the same arguments, meet with the same stalemate? Or would you have us do what makes the most sense and press our case with actions rather than words?