07.11b: Morning on a Fae Hill

[NPC]

The book is filled with a mix of pictures and dense text. Maps. Drawings of magical creatures. Alchemical diagrams, firearms, weapons. An occasional image of majestic mist-wreathed mountains. While you can't read the words (yet, at least), the way the images progress does still tell a story, at least to someone with amber level stats (mostly warfare, but psyche helps as well).

This is a history book; it tells the story of a shadow where monsters ruled the land... until the development of alchemy allowed the mortal races (humans, elves, and rat-kin) a chance to fight back. Towards the end, the pictures of creatures become few and far between, taking second place to mortal politics, armies, and border conflicts. Looks like the mortals won - and wrote this book; the images of kappa and kirin and tengu and kumiho and lung dragon are all framed in terms of potential weaknesses or tell-tale signs; it seems that most of the monsters of this land were capable of shapeshifting, but few were able to completely hide their true nature - especially from certain alchemical preparations.

"This is the history of Gizakiri, the Land of Jagged Mists," Celeste explains. "Knowledge of what has come before seems a worthy gift for those who will set this realm's future."
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Celeste Ammarith Victoria

[Rasanam]

"Fascinating!" Rasanam exclaims. "I don't think I recognize more than maybe one in ten of these creatures. I'll have to translate this the next time I'm home, though; that sort of magic doesn't work too well in Amber."

[ShadowOfPreservation]

Lyra turns back to Celeste and simply dips her head in appreciation. "Thank you again. This is wonderful. Shall we go speak with Lady Ninear now?"

[NPC]

Celeste nods, finds her walking stick, and sets out, pausing in the street only long enough to send one of the local patrollers running on ahead to let Lady Ninear know that Rasanam and Lyra are on their way.
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Celeste Ammarith Victoria

[Joshua]

The precinct is one of the taller buildings, a full four stories. It's in the shape of a slightly warped tower of glass wrapped in a wide spiral-shaped tree-trunk. The entry is simple, with a large desk on which rests an oversized (3 foot tall) blue parakeet with yellow feathers around her face and head. She grabs some papers with her talons and offers them along with a fountain-pen. "Greetings, you're expected. If it's okay, please sign in and the Lady will see you in her office, second floor."

The stairs are part of the inside-portion of the tree, wood among the glass walls. The office has a frosted glass surrounding, and the Lady is in a green constable-style outfit. She will rise as you enter and offer her hand. "Greetings."

[ShadowOfPreservation]

Lyra reaches out and shakes the proffered hand. "It's a pleasure meeting you, Lady Ninear. Thank you for seeing us. I'm Lyra Wolfgrin and this is my husband Rasanam. Lady Celeste suggested we speak with you as we are interested in procuring a personal residence in the city and had some concerns over how that may impact the local real estate market. Assuming we can resolve that issue, I was also interested in starting up a service to operate out of a separate location, but its implementation could have some impact on the Watch."

[Joshua]

"Yeah, new power is always difficult. At least you're being polite about it. Thankfully we haven't had anyone attempt to seize eminent domain or anything yet. Ossian came close, but that was more a matter of two people wanting the same undeveloped part of Faetown*. This is different I am guessing. Still, being neighbors with Amberites makes for an interesting situation. It would really help if we could just stay in the castle... You could have your quarters." She will shrug.

"Harrune created a bit of a stir, but he's been here since the beginning. Had a lot of petitioners for his favor. Gave out a lot as well. Set a little bit of an awkward precedent for Ossian and Darnell. Still, Darnell decided to make his home in the castle, so he avoided it.**"

"That's part of the reason the market will be odd. A lot of people are going to want to be your neighbors, and if you're moving in by Celeste's place, others will think you're showing her preferential treatment. That'll happen no matter where you go."

"For the other matter, what kind of service?"

If it matters, she has jet-black hair, done up in a tight bun. Mostly to keep it out of her face. Her outfit is designed for motion, and she is carrying at least one small knife on her.
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*: Minor nickname for the area as well.
**: Unneeded exposition, but makes sense.

[Rasanam]

Rasanam nods. "I've been in the castle since I arrived - and recently realized that's left me a bit out of touch with what's happening in the city; I don't have Harrune's network of social contacts... and honestly, am not really interested in trying to replicate that. I'd rather spend time on my projects."

"Which, incidentally, is also going to be disrupting market values some; I'm planning on building a sewer network, and that will start wherever I set up a place to live. On the other hand, it could also be a good excuse for temporarily locking down real estate transactions - at the least, I'll be happier if people aren't trying to dig new cellars while I'm setting up tunnels and piping."

[ShadowOfPreservation]

"What you said about individuals trying to seize property or use their position to their advantage is one of the things I want to try and protect against. Neither of us wish to impose on anyone in Faetown and I don't want anyone else to be able to either. So as far as the service I was thinking of, I'd been considering establishing a protective legal service to help out anyone that might be having problems getting settled living here, particularly if they may have had some problems with local laws and customs. I'm afraid there may be people who need the type of assistance that doesn't really fall under what the Watch is intended to deal with. Do you think something like that might be useful and acceptable?"

[Joshua]

Lady Ninear will nod. She will take a few moment, and filter through a few papers on her desk. Looking around the rest of the office, it's got a number of conspiracy theory charts, complete with strings and pushpins. Most of them revolve around murders or deaths. Oddly, at least one of the charts (a smaller one) is for a future date, next week.

"A method to acclimate newcomers would be good. Especially the ones who are unusual or persecuted. The humans in particular are a little paranoid of us. Legends about us taking infants, or worse, because we're different. So, that would be useful. As for the sewer, that's a little stickier, but we can work something out." She will sigh. "There is little we can do about the values without you declaring something or importing something. We lack the power to affect it directly, but someone with authority who can move between shadows freely... That might be what we need."