Image;

[red_branch]

This locket's pretty nifty. [Lancer, poised on the edge of a cliff, leaned his locket against one rock as he fiddled with a cloak and brooch, trying to pin one to the other without ripping it. He kept doing it over and over so he could weather it down and make it more comfortable to wear. When he got into a good little cycle of repetition, he spoke up, again.]

So, hey--I'm curious, has anyone heard about any 'help wanted' situations in Caer Glaem? I'd ask, but I figure this little artifact's got a good reputation is folks're using it so often.

[He continued talking, returning his eyes to the cloak and brooch.]

Let's see--I'm good with a plow, I know my way around horses and spreading seed... [Said nonchalantly, examining his handiwork.]

Pretty good at preparing and serving food. I wouldn't recommend me as the cook, though. I can read and write. [Conveniently, in every language on Earth.]

I'm a really good gardener, too--on top of farming, I mean. If you like flower-arrangement and things like that, you could say I've got a real knack for it.

[Lancer, seemingly content with the work he had done with the cloak and brooch, set both aside and began folding them where they lay. He crossed his arms and grinned back at the locket.]

So, if you folks know anyone who's hiring, put in a good word for me! You can call me [A pause. Lancer definitely stopped at that, thinking through his options.] Lancer. Yeah, I'll stick with that. It's gotten to be a habit, by now.

Comments

[red_branch]

Ah, well, I was hopin' you'd bite on that bait.

You don't have anythin' I could prove myself with?

[topmodel]

Only a few bouquets. Though I intend to change that as soon as possible once this Court offers me a few more answers as to what they expect to come of bringing me here. You can't be properly grateful when you don't know all of what you should thank someone for.

[and you can't be furious about being more or less kidnapped without understanding exactly who your captors were.]

[red_branch]

...Well, I dunno about that. I thought they were pretty succinct in sayin' 'Fight the Unseelie' was what they wanted us to do, eh.

[That aside--]

Course, war efforts don't just come through battles. Boostin' moral and feedin' troops counts, too. So--when you've got a test ready, lass, I guess I'll take part in it.

[topmodel]

I'll look for you when the preparations are done, you can count on it.

[but turning the subject a little...]

However, simply to "fight" doesn't tell us about their aims. Do they want the Unseelie to surrender, or their total annihilation? Is there something we can hold them to in order to ensure that our efforts don't simply wind up as slave labor for someone else's fight?

[red_branch]

Well, our shards, maybe. I dunno how to remove mine, but I'd probably take it out if I figured out how to.

[Maybe that would make Solais discard him. Then, he'd definitely be happy.]

I think it's just about those artifacts, regardless of who wins in the end.

[topmodel]

But then someone might steal it, and you'd no longer have your bargaining chip. You'd have to hide it some place no one would ever look.

[a pause, as she shifts a bit to pick up her pipe and inhale a little.]

It can't be just about these gemstones. If that was the case, they'd have killed us on arrival and harvested them from our corpses rather than going to the lengths of taking care of us in such splendor.

[red_branch]

Lucky for me, I could care less about possessing something like that in the first place. I'd probably hand it over to somebody who could actually use a pick-me-up.

[The sad part was, he would. Lancer would give his shard up to a homeless dude so he could make something better of his life. Pointless selflessness was his thing, apparently.]

But, I dunno--maybe they can't harvest them--or, they don't know how to do it properly.

[topmodel]

[he's a fool, she thinks, if he'd just give up such a thing.]

So a shard in a body is better than no shard at all? I wonder if we have proof these shards actually exist at all.

[red_branch]

They may turn out to not be real, but the effects of their rumor are plain as day, lass.

Plenty of folks have already fought to try and control those things, so the power they possess just by the possibility of being real seems pretty scary to me.

[topmodel]

Plenty of idiots, you mean.

[red_branch]

I figure a person's an idiot until they prove themselves right.

The end result could be pretty fun, you know--despite how insane it sounds.

[topmodel]

Explain how.

[no please or anything.]

[red_branch]

[He was used to it.]

Ever heard of powerful rumors? Well, you could say it's like that kind of intimidation.

You may confront a great warrior whose fame is so immense that you think 'I should run' before you even challenge him. It's that kind of power. Even if that guy weren't strong in the least, his reputation would be big enough you wouldn't want to second guess it.

Those shards could be just the same.