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[caditquaestio]

[ It's all misery footage, Caer Glaem in paltry glory: rammed gates, scratched walls, torn stone, upturned soil, roughened up trees. The locket's coverage pauses on each 'tourist attraction' from a high vantage point, briefly stumbling on hands that are exceedingly worn, blistered and bitten. ]

What has... what's... wrought this? How many dead does the court mourn, how many supplies were lost to - to enemy unknown?

[ A pause, then less startled, slightly cold. ]

...how do they wish us to make war upon each other, if they give siege first? Not the finest general, not the most accomplished tactician can devise strategy against Anaximander's unknown. Not Caesar - Caesar, who had little gain from the Gauls without paying the blood price, but at least he knew what enemy lay in wait.

And we? Look here. Remember this next you think the time is nigh to fight well and fight fairly: we are not armed with weapon or knowledge. We are played for puppets, and when our masters go without their laughs, our strings are cut.

[ Muttered. ]

'Lawkamercyme'. Hah. We do not even know what the word means, or who gave it to us for the telling.



[ ooc: ...and lo, a much belated, for RL KO'd, APOLOGIES! wild intruder appears in the Seelie court! He's given up his war declaration in favour of sheer horror at Ariadne's mad interior decorating skillz. Those who'd like to run into a Borgia need but look for the 'worker' who's... probably... holding... the tools by the wrong end. ]

Comments

video.

[powerful]

There's a lot of power in a name. Even if it sounds like a sneeze.

video.

[caditquaestio]

[ Just... keeping the locket affixed on the wall damage, like any good asshole. ]

And who - lends - the power? To what purpose? We do not know. We do not care to ask. It does its work for now, and so we use blindly.

We are parched men of the desert taking our fill of water from the first stream, and what if it is poisoned?

video.

[powerful]

Then I guess we all die. But when you're reading a choose your own adventure book and you only have three options, and they all end in 'die', what choice are you left with, really? Parched man in the desert finds water, drinks, it's poison, and he dies... Parched man in the desert finds water, it's poison, doesn't drink it, he dies of dehydration. It's a lose-lose situation. What else can we do about it? Unless you have a suggestion to every single problem, in which case, go right ahead and share.

[caditquaestio]

[ Absent-minded - ]

...five situations: parched man does not find water, he concedes to his plight and dies. Parched man does not find stream and pushes on to journey new until friendly water pours before him.

action;

[pontificus]

[The destruction is great, and though she would like to think herself safe, she still wishes to check on Sansa who still slumbers. It is upon her return that Lucrezia sees her door open. It is all the more perplexing because she cannot think of a single person who would do that. Gendry would message her before hand, and she is not close enough to anyone else within the castle.

Cautiously she peers into her room, though she has not even a weapon to defend herself. But all wary is cast aside when she is greeted by the site of the boy who she has talked to for some time.]

You've come at last! [She's hardly even noticed that he's picked through her things. Lucrezia is simply pleased that he is there.]

[caditquaestio]

[ The dagger is out before his glare leaves the final verse.

...ah. The mistress, then.

He should, but doesn't make his apologies, only returns the blade to sheath and rests the book in his hand in precarious balance over her bed frame. The cover's grittier now, slightly teased with the red prints of his fingerprints; he fusses, lamely, to clean it, managing to do more by way of infection and harm. Hmmm. A tenuous task, then.

Almost as difficult as, say, catching your bearings when your much aged sister's wandered in the - her rooms and thinks you a stranger. Well. Well, well.

Belatedly, he looks her in the eye, then (fast) away. ]

You look beau - [ No, wait, that isn't for don Lorenzo's messenger to say. ] In health. I did not think... [ And what right does a courier have to think of the Pope's daughter? Curses, he should have made himself a prince. ] ...your doors are weak, your books are plain and your fortress stands ruined, but you... look in health.

[pontificus]

[She catches his misstep and even if the blade out in her own room should alarm her, she is trusting in him. Hands clasped behind her back, she walks toward him, all smiles for the compliment that might have been. It suits her well enough.]

I have not parished in this last attack upon our castle, and the shadow beasts that would prey upon me. [She does not care that he takes to insulting her books or her court.]

I take it you have fared the journey well. Only to be expected for a man in service of the Medici family. [Lucrezia bows ever gracefully before him, the picture of elegance and nobility.]

For if I am beautiful, then you are handsome. [Her tone is teasing, unrelentless but as a sister mocks her brother. She chooses to flirt instead of being unkind.]

[caditquaestio]

[ He blinks away the juxtaposition - a child-sister, now woman, and both with the same foolish habits of showing their necks too trustingly - the littlest bit caught aback. Something else's changed. Oh. The way of bowing.

Yes, they do it... differently in Lucrezia's time, the gesture is more refined. Or maybe it's Lucrezia's own habit, and he blames it on the fashions. Unfortunate, how he can't tell. ]

If it pleases you to say so.

[ A nod towards the door. ]

I'm afraid I must offend your modesty and ask you leave your locks turned behind you. I am not... a guest here, Madam.

voice. private.

[orcsurfing]

'tis a wild world out there, charming stranger. Creatures dark and dangerous lurk in every little corner, capable of even greater destruction that the castle has known before.

[ Though he sounds plenty calm, he worries about the people there nonetheless. He's seen the damage at the Station as well, he's heard whisperings of the creature that caused them, though he wasn't present anywhere near for any of it.

He's faced his own mythical enemy, though, defeated it at a certain cost that still haunts him now and again. ]

Creatures that do not swear allegiance to any, but themselves.

[caditquaestio]

The darkest and most dangerous of creatures is thought, and the worst of its children is of the union between thought and man.

We can face all enemies. Reduce them to sand and wind and nothingness. But we must know where they lie, we must know what they are, we must know they exist. This? This is children playing at marksmanship come nightfall.

I do not make war to entertain spectators. I shall not waste life and resource on this and in this way.

action!

[rube]

[ben has been too busy dealing with the pure destruction of the place to really bother with the network. too many things happened at once for him to cope with both the urgency of the people of caer glaem and the outbursts on the network. he had seen the shadow creature (and he ran like hell, yes he did).

he's on a break from the work grabbing some water when he decides to fiddle with the locket absentmindedly. he recognizes the voice immediately, and the surroundings. he turns off the locket immediately and begins to to search for him, the man named valentino.

had he been lying about his court allegiance? had he snuck into caer glaem unnoticed during the chaos? he must have, otherwise someone would have noticed by now. at least ben would hope someone would. it's easy to spot cesare when ben finally stumbles upon him. the guy couldn't even hold a simple tool correctly, and that's what gives it away. cesare seemed to come from a nice family, too nice to ever touch a tool.]

Hey, man. You're holdin' that wrong.

[he wants to be completley sure he's right about who this guy is. he could never forget a voice like his.]

[caditquaestio]

[ God be praised and good and all-forgiving - of course Cesare's holding the (quite literally) bloody thing wrong. There was no man to give the telling for how to man any of the court's tool, even for those rare ten minutes of pretend-work.

The skin of his hand's peeling off, scourged by new injury - he mutters, when he tries to grasp the 'large brick scalpel'? - the trowel and it almost slips free of his hand. ]

Is that so, friend? You'll have to forgive me. I'm a hired hand for the day, but I bring no skill.

[ Or much by way of zeal; he only needs to while away a few moments here, just enough to wait the guard change, so he can move farther into the castle.

And what's this man's care for the workers, anyway? Small wonder Caer Glaem's so unseemly, if all their occupants busy themselves with is the labour of servants. ]

[rube]

[the more cesare talks, the more ben listens to the lilt of his voice. this is definitely the man he knows as valentino. he shifts his weight from one foot to the other, shoulders squaring.]

Yeah? What's your name?

[he doesn't move forward to shake his hand, or make any introduction himself, but his tone suggests genuine curiosity.]

[caditquaestio]

[ News in the world of don Cesare: the trowel cannot be balanced by its side either. What, then? Only the handle? He grasps that, grudging when he finds the ridges fit nicely in his grasp. ]

I'm -

[ Well, what is his name? 'Valentino' grows tiring, weighs down his bones. His own lies occupy more of his time than his affairs these days. And someone should know today, if only to forget tomorrow.

He looks up - smiles, thinly. ]

Cesare.

video;

[ex_audacity56]

You think the kings and queens set 'em loose on us?

voice x eternity

[caditquaestio]

And if they did not send, they knew, and we did not. Is that fairness to you? Fairness in the most basic sense, honesty as you can find even at war?

[ex_audacity56]

Course not. How'd you find out?

[hvf didn't keep secrets, did they, save for hers near the very end. secrets got people killed, and it was considered stupid at best — betrayal of trust at worst — to keep them.]

[caditquaestio]

Mere deduction. You think these... things exist, and not the one man knows? That we are the first to greet them? Surely, no - not - never. But we were served no warning, and though we have "monarchs," they ignore their foremost duty of protecting their people, of allowing them the means to reach that defence.

I do not accuse lightly.

[ action ]

[dappergent]

[ Oscar was as deeply concerned about the recent attacks and the near constant strangeness that occurs month after month but without knowing enough about this place, without knowing what is and is not to be expected, he reserved judgement, however thin and filled with unease that it was.

Still, he was no stranger to labor and even as a Duke he had preferred getting his hands dirty with work then sitting on his hands like his brother often did. If he could help a stranger, all the better.

It had, in the end, lead him to his late wife after all.

But when he spied the man out of the corner of his eye, his cigarette dropped, barely hanging on by the edge of his lip. ]

Uh... I think you're supposed to hold that hammer by the handle, not the head. Have you any experience with one before today?

[ he... almost hopes this poor lad doesn't else he'd like to wince on behalf of all said hammers. Oh, to mourn the many and numerous handles that must have been cracked due to ill use! ]

[caditquaestio]

[ Oh, no. Not a noble Samaritan, as Cesare means to make his way unknown past the gates. Curse this guise, he hardly thought much of it. Perhaps there lay the error - if everything else had been calculated, why not this?

He glares at the hammer in hand almost accusingly, before waving to the stranger in greeting, smile light. ]

...sir! I thank you. Your help is - truly, I have not. Forgive me. I took the work where I could find it. It is money for the likes of me, and the employer did not mind.

[dappergent]

[ never sneak past the gate one when could just waltz right in through the servants entrace with a sack of potatoes and a winning smile. ]

So you're hard on your luck then, good sir?

[ Oscar raised a brow and then simply chuckled. ]

No worries, no worries! We'll make a handy man out of you yet with some time and a bit of muscle. At the least, I think we could use your help in building the scaffolding. [ he pointed towards the wall where half the mortar's been raked away and a few stones are barely hanging on by a thread. ] That stonework won't patch itself you know.

[ although maybe with a few handy spells it could, but why use magic when honest labor can be done? ]

[caditquaestio]

[ Buon Dio, small wonder the Seelie were ripe for the taking - faced with lies and shady strangers, they all rushed to lend aid and counsel. If only they weren't the enemy, Cesare might well pity them their benevolence.

Luckily, it all worked in his favour now, so he nodded along, nodded, nodded, nodded - ]

You... wish me to do the stonework?

[ And ruin these lily white hands?! ]

...now?

Video

[showmeyourwreath]

[Oh, she remembers him! The charming one. There are a lot of names that he's saying that are unknown to her, but she can understand the gist well enough, otherwise.

'We are played for puppets.'

Flora thinks on that, but ultimately decides to set it aside. It touches on too many questions and worries, neither of which she can answer or assuage in a way that's acceptably satisfying to her and she doesn't want to think herself into a corner, never to leave.

But things may not be as he says they are, at least with this.

The locket floats and the view he's treated to is Flora sitting on a castle wall. Trees can be seen behind her which means it's rather high.

She's not bothered.]

The fairies were the ones saying the name in the first place, so it's fair enough to say they were the ones that gave it to us, isn't it?

audio!!!

[caditquaestio]

[ A good first step - pointing a finger. Only, now to ensure it's done in the right way. ]

Yes, if we search a mouth and not a mind. But these creatures have proven themselves plain-minded. Best ask: who told them?

[showmeyourwreath]

They're not that bad. [She feels the need to stick up for her fairy friends.

That aside,] You may have a point, but it's not hard to recite a name. Besides, the fairies and imps are of this world, maybe it's just common knowledge to them.