07.09n: Calm Before...

[Wyvern]

OOC: Continued from somewhere around here. Probably. I hope. Other people from that thread are welcome to follow her here; while this meeting is definitely not public, neither is it private to the point of excluding other Amberites (or Kizak).

Ashara is currently viewing the games from one of the private booths in the cliff face, accompanied by a handful of Rebma's elite guards. Alys pauses at the entryway and offers a half-bow. "Regent Ashara, might I occupy a few moments of your time?"*

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* Alys' intent for this meeting was set out here, in the form of a letter sent to Ashara. To re-post for people's reference: The letter details her plans for a training program [for the city guard], including that she would like to use this to foster cooperation between the courts, and would appreciate it if Rebma could spare at least a few instructors, as well as some potential trainees - Alys intends to pair up most of those with people from city guard groups near the docks, connections which should be of some significant value to Rebma's law enforcement.

[Joshua]

For the sake of argument, let's say that Kizak bowed out of the court drama but will meet up with you shortly.

"Of course," she will say. "And thank you for asking, even though we are on your home soil. Was this about the note that you sent, or has something new come up*?"
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*: While not that palpable, the recent attack and the chatter of an Amberite tournament intensifying does give the impression something big is about to happen. Especially to those who are very sensitive to social nuance.

[Wyvern]

Alys nods. "Both, actually. Though I do not think the second requires any particular action on your part, it is still a thing you should be aware of." And she will (again) go through a quick summary of what she knows about Hivers - noting that Krajk has already been informed.

Edit: And noting that she suspects it may already have some agents in Amber.

[Joshua]

"That is fairly disturbing news. I wonder what our guards might be able to do to stop such a thing. Still, do you know anything of what it uses to create such a possession?" She will ask. "Can the guards be trained to resist it?"

[Wyvern]

"No, and conditionally. The former question might be better addressed to Asai; the latter... it will be much weakened here in Amber, and it should be possible to delay or counter it by measures that would prove woefully inadequate elsewhere."

[Joshua]

"Is it something we can fight? You can fight? The pattern can fight? I am hoping that Dworkin would have some form of countermeasure." Ashara will ask. "Will this impact your training?"

[Wyvern]

"Oh, absolutely - it really does not understand just how strongly Pattern outclasses its abilities. But it could do a fair amount of damage if it acts quickly; right now I expect only Dworkin knows how to use Pattern as a weapon - and I anticipate he is more likely to try and use this as a learning experience than he is to deal with the threat himself."

"And yes, it will; if we are not able to deal with this quickly I will want to conduct training in Amber instead of out in shadow. Annoying, but in the long term it should not matter much if this training takes one year or five. Also, knowing that such a thing is both nearby and hostile will increase the priority on teaching mental discipline; most likely I will want to call in an expert for that - perhaps Asai or Rasanam. Unless you have some better notion?"

[Joshua]

"Corystes, while not as skilled as those two, is familiar with such conflicts and has a bit more discipline for training troops. Depending on where you are, a few sirens could be loaned to you to test such fortitude." Ashara will offer. "I believe Corystes has a deputy or two that might give most of the benefits and be able to spend the full training time. Our warden could not afford to vanish for six months."

She will ponder. "Most of our fishermen could be used as a secondary line of defense. Or be the first target of an attack. Some might be willing to learn, but they tend to have an issue of ego."

[Wyvern]

Alys and Ashara discuss the details for some time, eventually coming to an agreement, the details of which will be left OOC unspecified for now.

"There are," Alys adds, "Two unrelated things worth mentioning. First, we have a new arrival. He goes by the name of 'Spellbinder', and I expect he will - sooner or later - walk the Pattern in Amber. And second, some unspecified 'incident' has caused Harrune to conclude that he needs to make a show of force; as such, it is likely that there will be a challenge or two around his intent to walk Ht'gon's Pattern."

[Joshua]

Ashara will almost say something about 'the affairs of surface-dwellers'. She will nod. "The price for the position I now hold is high indeed. I hope the precedent that we set with him will help smooth that out." She will sigh. "I am okay with the various courtly responsibilities, but I had hoped somehow to avoid doing them on dry land."