Part MMMDCCLVII: Heralds Near and Far
Heralds Near and Far
Eleventh Day of the Fifth Month 294 AC
"Congratulations Minister," you offer the grim-faced man a scroll of parchment, for the most important of documents are still upon paper from that tradition of formality that has crept up even upon your realm in small things already. Those whose power comes from writ and seal have an interest in seeing that these things are as impressive as they can be made at least. Not so Valens of the Vale, or as he styles himself now Valens of Andalos, the new Minister of information.
The man bows low but without flourish, almost absently, his mind already upon the tasks at hand and in no small measure upon those who are to aid him in carrying them out. "Thank you, Your Majesty. I shall do my utmost to set order in the house that has been given me by your leave."
He had been troubled you know by what he had seen as the lack of 'proper security' in matters of public outreach, at the Times, at the Mirror troupe headquarters and elsewhere. A hand far different from any that had held the reigns here was the black gloved one of Valens and you suspect quite a few should find themselves out of a job or more likely transferred to less sensitive posts far and replaced with those who have been checked to the satisfaction of the former inquisitor.
"You have stolen a pearl yet unpolished from the vaults of the Inquisition, friend Viserys," Garin announces in jest from his seat beside the door, to your surprise actually eliciting a blush from the cheeks of the reputable Valens, of whom you had not even managed more than a dry chuckle in either of your interviews
A moment later you realize it is not a blush of embarrassment over the compliment, but shock even anger at the familiar manner his former superior had taken with you and so you smile and into the uneasy smile you laugh. "Well then you had best get to diving again, for I confess I shall have to raid as many such as he as you can find for the high halls of government."
"A rather grim fellow, isn't he?" you ask as the door closes softly in the wake of the newly selected minister. "No hope of him being the face of the Ministry I should say."
"Not unless that face has very grim news indeed," Garin replies with a shake of his head. "Still, easier to find a soothing voice and a pretty face than it is to find a man you can trust to write up the script."
The statement is too obviously true to require even a nod. Instead you step back behind the heavy ebony desk, of the sort that is built more to serve as akin to a carved rampart than a mere writing aid and ask. "So do you have any thoughts for the Minister of Diplomacy? I know the work of the Inquisition in foreign lands is not precisely going about by day and extending the hand of fellowship but you are closer to the task of vetting envoys that most and I would much wish to hear your thoughts in the matter."
"Besides the obvious you mean..." Your mother had already been doing the job of Minister of Diplomacy without the title and or seal and she is clearly interested in continuing, having found much in the tasks that interested her beyond the usual comings and goings of court for which she had been trained since girlhood.
The court even your court is as familiar as a tame garden in the end, all bounded up with the power of the throne, but the realms beyond are more akin to the wildwood, in peril yes but also in challenge. Whether it be seeking friends or warding off foes it it a task that needs doing and by word and skill, by lore and song I would count myself more skilled in the doing than most.
The voice echoing back in memory from this afternoon is light for she did not wish to seem as though she was making demands or putting pressure upon you against your counsel, but still you could read in her mind a desire to make her mark on the world and be more than the mother of Viserys the First, most remarkable only in the manner of her return from beyond the doors of death.
"Well it depends what you want," Garin replies, bringing you back to the here and now. "It it's closer ties to the shaitan and the Djinn than you cannot go wrong with Laeanys Nystor, the envoy to the court of the shaitain. He is a man who managed to not only order a very complex embassy in a very strange land with laws far stricter than you might find under blue skies, but it also did all this while keeping his nose clean in a city where they pave the streets with gold and silver flows in the fountains."
"I think I have a right to expect basic honesty by default and not as some remarkable quality of song and story," you scoff.
"The man is actually poorer now than he was when he took the post and so are all his relations. I checked," Garin replies dryly.
That is extraordinary, you admit. While naked bribery is not what you would call common and certainly not accepted in your service it is a rare high official in foreign parts who does not find himself and his kin richer from the contacts there cultivated. "And you are sure it does not just make him bad with money?" you prompt.
"No, he was actually very good at it. That skill is one we thought the shaitan would admire and so he was chosen, but he bent all his skills to the service of the realm and not himself," your friend replies almost wonderingly. There might even be a note of pity in it. He would not have been so diligent in the ambassador's place and you are honest enough to know no more would you have been. The realm might hope for honest men in its servants, but it had been built in no small measure by scoundrels.
"And the other option?" you prompt, riffling through the desk for files and papers on the man, already prepared of course, but it is late and for once you are running late from all the investigation you undertook into the Voice of Tryos to see if he truly could have served as Minister.
"Oddo the Fat. He did a marvelous job in the Summer Islands once your mother had left and not because he is fair of voice and face, but because he seems to have a special skill for finding those who would best suit a task and inspiring in them loyalty and purpose." Garin pauses. "Not a diplomat, but a diplomat master perhaps," he tried a play on words.
Choose a Minister of Diplomacy:
[] Rhaella Targaryen
+Loyal onto Death
+Charisma of Dragons (Dragonsinger)
+A Steady Hand (Is basically already in charge of the realm's diplomats)
-Absence at Court (The tasks will take her away from the capital for longer thus loosing her council on many matters relating to Westeros and its lords)
-Unused to Daggers (Unused to espionage or liaisons with the Inquisition )
[] Laeanys Nystor
+Known to the Genie Courts and favored
+An Honest Man
+Skilled Organizer
-Narrow Experience (has never served in a diplomatic post under the sun of mortal worlds)
-Socially Conservative
[] Oddo the Fat
++Masterful Delegation
+Easy to Work With
-No extra-planar experience
-Personally lacking in charisma
[] Write in
OOC: And done. I hope the scene does not feel too all over the place. I did not want to make it purely a Rhaella one since that would have given her a rather unfair advantage in the vote just in terms of screen time.
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