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What's A Little Conversation Among Friends?
Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2021 10:32 pm
by Mino
Searing 23 121
Mino had to remind himself that this was only for the sake of work.
It had nothing to do with the fact that he might not like his peers. He surely didn’t see them as individuals he would willingly find himself around, but they weren’t particularly terrible people to be around. Just...dreadfully uninteresting in most cases. Like now: using one’s home for a gambling den for the rich and restless? Firstly, an amateur move; everyone knows you wouldn’t want something you may think would tarnish your reputation so directly tied to you. A secondary location would probably have been a much better idea to anyone actually using some level of common sense. Secondly, Mino had never come here beforehand because he found the idea of gambling without risk to be...tasteless. Cowardly, even. All they would do is lose a few notes when really — they had quite a bit to spare. He could head over to the Spinning Coin and get more out of an evening of merely watching than this lot could with participating for an hour.
But that didn’t matter now. What mattered is that all of these fine young men and women attending this evening were those with some sort of magical connection, or are connected enough to the current gossip that he could work those connections. It would make it easier for him to find someone to initiate him into magic of one form or another. Mino himself had never really thought much of the arcane; he had enough things to worry about maintaining than a working knowledge of how magic worked — even if there would be some benefit.
He sighed as he walked through the entry arches of a lesser house, vaguely aware that there were people who seemed pleased with his arrival. There were familiar faces who had made his attendance possible, their heads bowed as they continued their roles as servants and confidants. Lady Honey had trained them well, bringing them up in the ways of being unassuming. There would be, really, no point in drawing attention to oneself in this role.
The rathari halted as a hand came down before him, a crooked grin on the face of the man who’d stopped him. Of course; he should have expected some resistance to his presence. Being a member of an upstanding family, one could assume that he would be too good for this.
“Mino Lekivian.” The man’s grin was probably no more than a front. Pale grey eyes bore into him. “To what do we owe the pleasure of your company?”
His answer was drawled out, head tipped to the side to see around the other. “Lord Choosak, there’s an awful lot of rumors about your gatherings and I simply had to see for myself.”
“That so? Although.” The other lord took a step forward, the eyes of others on them. This was a matter of posturing, not just of friendly conversation. “I don’t recall inviting you.”
“From my understanding, this was meant to be a sort of...open occasion, and even then, I was invited by Lady Khrish so there may have simply been a misunderstanding or a mixup of some kind.” Taking his own step closer, he let his voice drop for only those close enough to strain to hear would be able to catch his words. “It really wouldn’t look good for you to send me away, either. I know there are plenty of people who would just love to know that House Choosak is uncaring of their behavior toward their betters. And there are witnesses aplenty who could spin it however they saw fit.”
Mino’s grin remained in place while the other man’s wavered for a moment. But a moment would be enough and the lingering silence a mere boost to the imagination of whoever was watching. Choosak crumbled under the weight of imagined possibilities, a more forced smile on his face as he stepped aside. “Whatever the case may be.” How he must have hated to think, let alone say, the words. “Welcome, Lord Lekivian.”
“Pleasure to be here.”
Re: What's A Little Conversation Among Friends?
Posted: Sat Nov 06, 2021 11:56 am
by Mino
Mino sucked in a breath. “Am I?”
Before the two men was an arrangement he knew well enough. Two beetles placed on a table, separated by a miniature screen made by a sheet of parchment. Around them were others who peered down at the raised platform. The sleek black exoskeletons of the creatures — larger than his own hand — reflected the gleam of the lights above them and the tense waiting as the last bets were being placed. He watched the creature mill about as the servant before him stood with pencil poised over paper.
“I’m fairly new to this.” He flashed them a smile and they nodded, knowingly, before stepping closer.
The servant cast their gaze first to the beetles, then to the others gathered this evening. Faces that Mino knew and could recall distant conversations with. Lady Ames, often on holiday from Zaichaer to come gawk at the absurdity of Kalsazern entertainment. She’d probably tell the rest of the Zaicheri nobility about this. Lord Choosak, the host and owner of one of the beetles up to bat. Lord Thanh, ever excited to simply be included, but rash. New money that tried to hide within the masses of the older families of note. Not that he did a very good job of it. Taking the advice of those around him made him susceptible to humiliation. But also a viable target.
“Bui.” Lord Thanh perked up at his name being called, not caring about the lack of respectable address. Mino ushered him forward where he lounged, fingers curling to call him hither.
“Did you call for me, my lord?” A peasant’s response. Mino smiled; he would never learn. There was a slight measure of pity he had for the other, but at the very least this was a harmless enough interaction. There wouldn’t be anything taken from him besides information.
“Which are you betting on?”
Bui Thanh, starstruck in the moment of being called upon for betting advice, was like a child being told they were a big kid now. Like he’d been informed of a step up in station. Thick lips pursed together to hold back a too-wide grin and eyes sparkled as they turned down to the floor, rather than look at Mino. The rathari tipped his head to the side as the elf glanced then to the beetles, shuffled a touch closer.
“Lord Choosak’s Sassongie has been victor for the last several games but.” There was a moment of contemplation, then an almost mischievous light to the other’s eyes. “Lady Hioshi has been hiring fae to breed her beetles. The wild ones. They say this is one of the best bulls they’ve produced yet.”
Mino glanced around the other to get a better view of the table again, considering. He pushed his lips out in a bit of a pout before turning his attention back to the man. Long black hair had been pinned back from his face, showing every bit of his youth. But that made it easy to talk to him. Perhaps Thanh was a touch more cunning than at first glance. But Mino’s appraisal of him seemed to go unnoticed. Lost in a haze of anticipation.
The rathari turned to the servant still hovering close. “I’ll place my bet on Lady Hioshi, then.”
A bow, and then the servant was scurrying off to inform the bookkeeper. There was a moment of short whispering before Mino lost interest and turned his sights on Thanh. The man had looked toward the table as the parchment lifted and the match began. Distracted, partly, he would be quick work to pry information out of.
“Bui.” His head turned. “Your family does artificing, doesn’t it? And scrivening?”
The man nodded, hesitated a moment before lowering himself on the chaise beside Mino. “Yes, my lord.”
“You see, it’ll be my birthday soon and I wanted to give a...gift to my mother to thank her for her years of caring for me.” He leaned in. “But she’s a hard woman to please and I want it to be a wonderful surprise, so I was hoping there might be a means of...making a particular gift special.”
“We could certainly do that, my lord.”
He held up a hand, shut his eyes for a moment. “Please; call me Mino. Think of this as a conversation among friends.” When he opened his eyes again, a sigh on his lips, the other had sat upright. As if given some great honor. “We’re friends, aren’t we?”
“Most definitely, my— Mino!”
Re: What's A Little Conversation Among Friends?
Posted: Thu Dec 09, 2021 7:46 pm
by Torin Kilvin
R E V I E W
Lore:
Etiquette: Understanding the power of status
Gambling: Gathering stats before a bet
Intimidation: Using your status over others
Persuasion: A veiled threat can be convincing
Spycraft: Scouting a possible contact
Kalsazi Custom: Beetle Fighting
Fae'ethlan: Breed better beetles
Bui Thanh: New money
Points: 5, not for magic
Injuries/Ailments:
None
Loot:
None
Notes: