07.07b: Dance Floor (Section 1)

[coldcandor]

Solten's suit looks a little odd after that, like it no longer fits properly. But it's probably just from all the movement.

Solten slowly comes back to reality after the excellent workout and surprise kiss. After a moment his eyes focus on the newcomer. "Ah, Alys! Good to see you. Sorry, I think I got a bit carried away there..." Looks around. "Yes, perhaps we should let the ball continue without us for a bit." He looks back at Sadie and his smile grows. "Lead the way, beautiful."

[Sadie]

Solten, Alys and Sadie depart from the dance floor and return to the refreshment tables to continue their introductions.

[misfit]

As they enter the dance floor Nuall asks Alys "So my Lady, what manner of display would you like to put on for our audience? Stately and regal? Wild and provocative? Something else?"

[Wyvern]

Continued from the refreshments table.

"After Sadie and Solten's wild dance... I think stately and regal would be the better choice. I'm sure the musicians at least will thank us."

[misfit]

"A wise choice indeed". Nuall signals the musicians to play something appropriate and begins to lead Alys through a formal dance from his homeland. If the locals are unfamiliar, he is certain that they can pick up the pattern quickly enough.

"That is a truly extraordinary dress you are wearing tonight. You make me look like an uncultured tatterdemalion by comparison. Still, that is an acceptable price to pay for the pleasure of a dance with you."

"So my Lady, how have the Courts been treating you?"

[Wyvern]

"Tatterdamalion, perhaps, if clearly by choice rather than circumstance. But uncultured? I'm not convinced you could look uncultured if you tried!"

"As for the courts... It is interesting to see the beginnings of a place like this. See what is done, and what has - so far - been left undone."

"And how fared your adventure? I note," Alys makes a subtle nod towards Sadie, "That not everyone arrived here unharmed."

OOC: Given forum game & not too terribly fast response times, it's probably easier to keep a couple threads of conversation running in parallel - so, you could reply to each of the above lines separately, and even add a fourth line of conversation if you wanted.

[misfit]

"As for the courts, I am still new here myself. I have not spent as much time learning my way around as perhaps I should have. I suppose that it is time I start taking my education seriously. I fear that my arch-enemy, Responsibility, may have finally managed to maneuver me into a corner. So I would ask your opinions if I might. What has been done right so far? And what are the most important things still undone?"

"As for our adventure, as you may has surmised, Oberon took Solten and I out into the shadows to teach us something of technology and sorcery. Unfortunately our time was brief, so I am not convinced that I yet begin to grasp how little I truly know. It did serve to let me know that there is much, much more to learn."

Nuall goes on to recap their outing, which I'm assuming people have already read. The important difference is that he will totally skip over what he was doing after he was left behind at the inn. He will mention being left behind because he overslept, but neglect to say anything more about what he was up to.

"I do not believe that Oberon intended for her to be hurt so badly. I suspect that he was trying to teach her some lessons as well. The whole excursion was enlightening if uncomfortable."

"Speaking of making me uncomfortable, do you know anything of this Odin? I had a brief conversation with him earlier. He tells me that he is from the 'The Clans of Chaos'. The religion of my home spoken of the hordes of Chaos. Granted, he does not seem to match their descriptions, but it does make me think. If my world is a shadow of Amber, could our stories of evil be a reflection of the enemies of Amber?"

"I apologize. I should not have broached such a grim subject at a time of celebration."

[Wyvern]

"Done right? The elite guard groups - the guards at Castle Amber, Ht'gon, and here are all... well, suffice to say I've seen exactly one fighting force of uniformly greater skill, and that one has long since ceased to exist. Also, trade, or at least the start of it - what Ruben's been doing is vitally important; a city that stands alone is ill-suited to facing any serious attack."
"Still to be done? The most egregious exception that I've found so far is the way law in Amber has been left to fall to pieces; I've started working to correct that - offering training to anyone with an interest in bettering the city. I'm sure I'll get plenty of thugs looking only to better their ability to take what they want... but training begets discipline, and it will be easy enough to weed out those who won't learn."

At the description of the excursion, Alys' only interruption comes when Nuall describes the dragon they fought: "Hmph. Sounds more like an overgrown lizard with delusions of grandeur. Probably couldn't even move without its local shadow magic."

"I have yet to speak with Odin myself, but his power certainly heralds a place with real potential, whether as an enemy or as an ally. As for your home's stories of evil reflecting Amber's enemies... can they? Certainly. Do they necessarily? Absolutely not. After all, if you looked far enough, you could find a shadow of Amber where you - or, rather, a reflection of you - ruled as a bloodthirsty tyrant. Shadows are just shadows; they reflect not merely what is, but also what could be, or what might have been. Those who are Real are reflected more strongly, and while such reflections will always share some traits with whoever casts them... there are no guarantees."

"And no apology is required for the topic - Odin is here, after all, and ignoring him will remove neither him, nor the peoples he represents."

[Joshua]

Seems that the devil knows his name. Odin and the sahuagin-like fisherman, Farusi, dance closer, in an attempt to exchange partners. (Odin ends up with Alys and Farusi to end up with Nuall.) If there is no objection, those'll break up into two separate threads. If you'd like to stop this... how?

[Wyvern]

Alys has no intention of stopping such a partner exchange - but might delay, carefully maneuvering to put other dancers in Odin's way, at least for long enough to get to a decent stopping point in the current conversation. I figure that between her and Nuall, there should be enough available warfare to manage that.

Of course, we might already be at such a stopping point? Depends on whether Nuall has more questions, I suppose.