Amid the children's games where apparently Alystrakos is toasting marshmallows for the kids...
She is approached by a human boy (about 3' 5") with messy brown hair, light brown eyes, and small ears. He wears modest peasant garments (patched for winter) and has several small mining tools hang from his belt.
"Lady Alystrakos?" he asks, looking up at her with disproportionately aged eyes. "Oh... I suppose he was mistaken. Still, it is nice to meet you. I am Hrido, a warden of the Wyld Hunt."
07.09r: Elder Signage
Re: 07.09r: Elder Signage
Alys nods politely and offers Hrido a hand.*
"Who, Daq?"** she asks. "I have made no declaration of what I am; as such, I can hardly take offense if people choose to make assumptions."
Alys shrugs, seeming to dismiss the topic as unimportant. "Would you like a marshmallow?"
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* Still a deliberately ambiguous gesture, though she's expecting a handshake and possibly a heat test (instead of competing on firmness of grip, competing on temperature of hand), though she won't initiate such. ...Then again, she has just been toasting marshmallows, so the offered hand is definitely starting at a temperature where a human would reflexively jerk away.
** Reference from here, where Daq thought Alys was a kobold (of the fire spirit sort, rather than the D&D small lizard-folk sort).
"Who, Daq?"** she asks. "I have made no declaration of what I am; as such, I can hardly take offense if people choose to make assumptions."
Alys shrugs, seeming to dismiss the topic as unimportant. "Would you like a marshmallow?"
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* Still a deliberately ambiguous gesture, though she's expecting a handshake and possibly a heat test (instead of competing on firmness of grip, competing on temperature of hand), though she won't initiate such. ...Then again, she has just been toasting marshmallows, so the offered hand is definitely starting at a temperature where a human would reflexively jerk away.
** Reference from here, where Daq thought Alys was a kobold (of the fire spirit sort, rather than the D&D small lizard-folk sort).
Re: 07.09r: Elder Signage
Hrido will go for the hand kiss*, first taking her hand and then giving it a light kiss.
"Of course. Food is always acceptable." He will take the offered food; oddly, pocketing it instead of eating it. "You don't seem to claim allegiance to any of the younger races**. Your besting of Daq was ... appreciated by many of us. He is a good warrior, but his beliefs make him quite difficult to work with. We would be willing to treat with you."
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*: Besides, a hand-shake is awkward with someone three feet taller than you.
**: Not what one normally calls dwarves.
"Of course. Food is always acceptable." He will take the offered food; oddly, pocketing it instead of eating it. "You don't seem to claim allegiance to any of the younger races**. Your besting of Daq was ... appreciated by many of us. He is a good warrior, but his beliefs make him quite difficult to work with. We would be willing to treat with you."
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*: Besides, a hand-shake is awkward with someone three feet taller than you.
**: Not what one normally calls dwarves.
Re: 07.09r: Elder Signage
Alys hands Hrido a toasted marshmallow on a wooden skewer*; as the kobold talks, she skewers another two marshmallows, cups a hand around them to set them on fire, eats one (still on fire), and then offers the second one to Kizak.
She lets the comment on 'younger races' slide, instead asking, "Did you have any particular topics in mind?"
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* She purchased a supply of both marshmallows and skewers - the latter are important if you're going to offer toasted marshmallows to people whose hands aren't fireproof. Besides, melted marshmallow is sticky.
She lets the comment on 'younger races' slide, instead asking, "Did you have any particular topics in mind?"
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* She purchased a supply of both marshmallows and skewers - the latter are important if you're going to offer toasted marshmallows to people whose hands aren't fireproof. Besides, melted marshmallow is sticky.
Re: 07.09r: Elder Signage
"Loyalties and such. Morgana, while just*, is a little accommodating for our tastes. The Wyld is not much for appeasement. Although, we do tolerate. Still, the younger races have their squabbles and we don't see a need to take part in it." He will look at Alys. "You might change that. We are willing to at least explore the possibility."
Kizak will enjoy the marshmallow. He's still a bit uncomfortable with all the attention he's been getting, by someone more or less clearly above his rank**.
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*: He means a just ruler.
**: Yay victorian mindset.
Kizak will enjoy the marshmallow. He's still a bit uncomfortable with all the attention he's been getting, by someone more or less clearly above his rank**.
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*: He means a just ruler.
**: Yay victorian mindset.
Re: 07.09r: Elder Signage
Alys tilts her head, seeming a bit bemused by the conversation. "I will admit that I have little interest in appeasement. Toleration, though... I have lived in societies where neither Daq nor Rogbar would have survived offering me insult - and that is a path that always seems to end in bloody civil war; I will not bring that here."
"Of course," she adds, casually toasting a few more marshmallows*, "There are limits, and I will not be surprised if Daq crosses them despite the warnings I have given him."
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* First priority goes to those children clever enough to bring their own marshmallows.
"Of course," she adds, casually toasting a few more marshmallows*, "There are limits, and I will not be surprised if Daq crosses them despite the warnings I have given him."
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* First priority goes to those children clever enough to bring their own marshmallows.
Re: 07.09r: Elder Signage
"Rogbar? How does a Fool* offer insult? They tend to reflect ones own insecurity. Still, he is not actually fae, so might not be up to the full role." He will observe as the children give him a bit of a distance. his age is also apparent in his mannerisms. There is nothing child-ish about this kid.
"We have explained to Daq that hunting within the Shadow will expose us to unneeded attention. He understood what that meant."
"Odd those two offered you insult. One with too refined a taste in women, one with too little**. You don't strike me as one who would cause that issue."
He will look around. "So, that and the question of what will you do with the political power you have. You seem above the petty squabbles."
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*: This is clearly not an insult. Almost a term of reverence.
**: I'm fairly certain this isn't an insult. More a riddle he finds interesting.
"We have explained to Daq that hunting within the Shadow will expose us to unneeded attention. He understood what that meant."
"Odd those two offered you insult. One with too refined a taste in women, one with too little**. You don't strike me as one who would cause that issue."
He will look around. "So, that and the question of what will you do with the political power you have. You seem above the petty squabbles."
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*: This is clearly not an insult. Almost a term of reverence.
**: I'm fairly certain this isn't an insult. More a riddle he finds interesting.
Re: 07.09r: Elder Signage
"By accident," Alys answers the kobold's first question.*
"Currently, my primary goal is to see to the security of both Ht'gon and Amber as a whole. For example, we lack the means to meet most forms of external threat with proportionate response."
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* The implication is that a proper Fool would know exactly what they were doing when nettling someone.
"Currently, my primary goal is to see to the security of both Ht'gon and Amber as a whole. For example, we lack the means to meet most forms of external threat with proportionate response."
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* The implication is that a proper Fool would know exactly what they were doing when nettling someone.
Re: 07.09r: Elder Signage
"Proportionate? I suppose. Still, we are doing a good job of keeping the manticore from overrunning the camp. And there was a hydra earlier. We take care of it quietly. Was there a specific threat you were thinking of that... Our current defenses are ill suited for?" His hands do twitch briefly as he tries to unravel what you mean... "Do you mean there are not enough of us to defeat a systematic threat?"
Re: 07.09r: Elder Signage
"I suppose that is a part of it... Consider an invading army backed by champions on the level of... just for a purely hypothetical example here, Odin. At the moment, we would need to resort to, say, destroying whatever shadow contains the army in order to deal with that part of the threat. Which... works, technically, but is roughly equivalent to burning down a city in order to keep the rat population down."