The worse news is that a perfect storm of bad luck alongside Google's user-unfriendly approach to account security has cost me access to virtually all of my files of any kind that weren't already public, probably permanently
Ayo, can you clarify this statement? I'm not sure if you already have yet, but I'm currently using Google Docs myself so this sounds a tad bit concerning.
[X]You would be swift to apologize and make promises to improve: you had a suspicion that the Council's complaints were meritful enough this was at least mostly justified, and apologizing and promising to do better worked in more contexts than being scolded by Maman.
[X]You would be swift to apologize and make promises to improve: you had a suspicion that the Council's complaints were meritful enough this was at least mostly justified, and apologizing and promising to do better worked in more contexts than being scolded by Maman.
If nothing else, we can take care of this kind of errand now. Also, everything we've read about the Council says that they have *opinions* about lower monsters getting to big for their boots - they don't trust Caras with a human army, they're pissed he didn't prioritize them.
If we apologize, we make it seem like he was torn between two duties. If we don't, we imply that Caras thinks he knows better.
Basically I think we don't have the power base to try to move and shake right now. Better a little groveling so we can get back to work.
[X]You would be swift to apologize and make promises to improve: you had a suspicion that the Council's complaints were meritful enough this was at least mostly justified, and apologizing and promising to do better worked in more contexts than being scolded by Maman.
I'm pretty torn between this and just stating the facts. It might be dangerous to project the views of integrated humans onto the council, they might just be pragmatic and indifferent to a show of humility. But they've been doing politics for a long time- they're mad because he's snubbed them, and being deferential will probably help!
I am surprised to hear this info, not being neurotypical myself and largely disinterested in properly educating myself on neurotypicality. I suppose it does contextualize some pretty frustrating experiences I've had over the years, where an individual took me explaining why I had done what I had done as 'making excuses'. (Usually not saying so explicitly, mind)
Ayo, can you clarify this statement? I'm not sure if you already have yet, but I'm currently using Google Docs myself so this sounds a tad bit concerning.
When I first got a Gmail account, Google had comparably light automated security to, say, Sufficient Velocity: prove you're you with the correct email and password combination.
This remained so for something like 20 years, where I could have my only computing device die unexpectedly, grab a new computing device, and log right back in with no issue. (I work my computing devices to the bone: they die unexpectedly a lot)
Then sometime after I got off the street into the Nightmare Apartment, this apparently quietly changed. Now Google has automated processes that scrutinize whether you're logging in from a new device, whether your wifi router is unfamiliar, and probably other factors, to decide whether you're probably actually you trying to log into your account or a sinister hacker trying to fake being you. If the automated processes 'trust' your device or wifi router, everything is hunky-dory and you will receive zero sign that Google's processes are different from twenty years ago: you will not actually be told that your password was accepted on a new computer because your home wifi is trusted. You will only be given such feedback once Google decides you're an evil hacker who must not be allowed into your account.
As Google never bothered to push notifications about these changes through Gmail or whatever, I had zero idea this had changed when I made to move out of the Nightmare Apartment -thus ceasing to use my trusted wifi router- and had no idea I needed to make additional preparations to be able to access my account on a new device. My old device died in the process of the attempted move, and attempting to log into a(n inexpensive and kind of crappy) new device at last revealed to me Google had fallen into the tech sector insanity of 'security is working correctly if it regularly locks people out of their own account, right?' with this exacerbated by Google having apparently quietly forgotten my account's recovery email (Or perhaps simply refusing to let me try to enter it: this whole thing is obnoxiously opaque in its implementation) and somehow fucked up my security question so that it's not accepting the correct answer as correct. (Probably related to security questions having been discontinued -quietly, like all these other changes- some years ago)
Currently, the most reliable way to minimize the odds of being locked out of your account is to have two devices, so you can always have one already logged in verify any new login attempts even if one of your devices dies or is lost or whatever.
It's only through an extremely stupid confluence of events from years ago that I
A: had another Gmail account already
and B: was allowed to log into that one
and C: happened to have my Paypal account tied to that second account instead of my historical primary account, so my finances haven't been fucked over by Google doing this nonsense.
And it's only because most other tech companies are less psycho about security and bother to have actual customer service that this didn't permanently lock me out of various secondary accounts registered under that account. And it still cost me my (admittedly barely-used) Discord account because Discord refuses to do customer service stuff to mess with your email. (I did a post covering my adventures with this process, if you want more detail) And is forcing me to jump through a bunch of hoops to make sure my Vigaroe posts aren't lost by virtue of the old account being deleted in a year and a half or so for inactivity.
-------------------------------------
Anyway, not going to close the vote today because there's no way I'll be up to doing the writing yet, but it's looking increasingly likely that Apologetic Sabrina is going to be the winner. Which will probably be interesting to write... non-sarcastically interesting, to be clear.
Oh yeah, Google is downright annoyingly paranoid, I see people who have problems logging into Google systems because they switched computers all the time.
I do hope Apologetic Sabrina comes with a side of assertiveness. "I'm sorry my husband has been neglecting certain duties, however, yes, I am his wife, and I do have the authority to promise improvements in his name, and I can see it through."
Sabrina will be defaulting to apologizing and promising to do better as her primary stratagem going in.
Update incoming, please stand by.
This is liable to be another big post, so no promises on when it'll actually go up.
Scheduled vote count started by Ghoul King on Sep 9, 2024 at 9:07 PM, finished with 27 posts and 18 votes.
[X]You would be swift to apologize and make promises to improve: you had a suspicion that the Council's complaints were meritful enough this was at least mostly justified, and apologizing and promising to do better worked in more contexts than being scolded by Maman.
[X]You would focus on 'just the facts': stay away from seeming like you're defending Caras or attacking the Council, and focus on providing the overdue reports. Perhaps the Council really only cared about this information?
[X]You would use cluelessness as a shield: ask questions, admit ignorance, and pretend as if any verbal barbs were unnoticed by you. (Given your experience in Soissons thus far, you might end up half-doing this without meaning to...)
[X]You would focus on the ways this wasn't Caras' fault: the newness of the Burner Worms themselves, the other Lords making things harder on him, the 'no soldiers' rule constraining him. (You'd certainly be very diplomatic about raising that last one!)
[X]You would try to emphasize that things were currently changing for the better: whatever their complaints were, you were confident that in five years' time they'd be handled.
An hour or so before the appointed time, Yvette had lead you to a small room and told you to stay there. Maybe ten minutes later, a tall, almost-human-shaped Breed had come in, appearing terribly odd to you, including in ways you weren't sure you had words for.
For one, it didn't seem to have eyes: where you would expect a face was just a very flat curved surface, like a bowl of thick glass. For another, it seemed... darker to your nightvision than most Breeds? That didn't really make sense, but that's how it felt. It had two curving tubes sticking up out from its back, which emitted a gas that seemed to glow the same green that Caras' antennae glowed when he was focused on long-range communication, or that a Gatekeeper's antennae glowed when it was checking for Burner Worms. Or maybe the tubes themselves were emitting the glow, the gas just illuminated by them? Its arms hung stiffly from its shoulders: you weren't entirely sure it had elbows, and also weren't entirely sure its shoulders could do more than a forward-and-backward motion. Its fingers were oddly delicate-looking compared to the rest of its form.
"Good morning, madam," it had said, though you couldn't have said where its voice was coming from. "I am Tamzen, Zamvek's second, and here to educate you on how to comport yourself before the Council, since you are not only a first-timer but also a human."
"Uh... good morning? Thank you?" you had said, suddenly painfully aware you didn't know if there was a proper procedure for this interaction.
"No thanks are necessary. Now, firstly, correct address is 'Premièreombre' followed by their name. No exceptions. Secondly..."
What proceeded was thirty or forty minutes of Tamzen describing rules, having you repeat them back to it, and doing a certain amount of play-acting where it pretended to be a Premièreombre and you had to correctly respond or else it would scold you and insist proper behavior was of utmost importance.
The actual rules weren't particularly numerous and mostly boiled down to 'don't interrupt, don't wander from your assigned spot, don't insult the Council or otherwise be pointlessly rude, and don't make demands'. Which was... largely what you'd have done anyway. Only the 'don't interrupt' and 'always call them Premièreombre (name)' rules seemed... onerous, let's go with.
Much more useful was Tamzen giving you a basic description plus name for each member of the Council, which you did your best to commit to memory.
Once Tamzen was satisfied you weren't going to make an embarrassment of yourself or 'undermine the dignity of the Council', things fell into silence until Tamzen abruptly announced that it was time and pulled the doors open for you.
The Council room is larger than you'd expected. You were figuring it would be large -you're sort of assuming Caras is representative of size- but the room stretches far enough you can't actually see the far wall. It's also surprisingly bare: most of the Council grounds are decorated and visually busy, windows flanked by nicely-patterned curtains, pillars adorned with abstract patterns, carpets atop wooden floors... this area puts you more in mind of large parts of Caras' castle, in terms of the floor being bare stone. The walls you can see are still wood, but largely undecorated. There's support pillars, but these ones appear to be something organic?
Session 4 of the day: overdue report from the Baron of Soul-Consuming Carapace Shadows. Represented by Integrated human 'Sabrina Vieuxpont'. Legal representative by virtue of 'marriage' ritual including a clause that married individuals are legally one entity. Ready to take minutes.
Okay. So... you're seeing thirteen beings moving out there, you think...
"Why isn't the Baron here himself?" grinds out from a face that should be Oroxthanp. Lots of teeth in that four-petalled mouth: even more when his mouth opens to talk. Four antennae glowing that same green: is he micromanaging his Breeds even now? A 'beard' of... whatever that is. 12 eyes close to the center of the mouth. His head sits low to the ground, and you can't see the rest of his body, though Tamzen indicated his body stretches quite a ways behind him. "Not even his second?"
You wait a moment to be sure he's done talking, before saying, "I'm sorry, but he's very busy fighting Burner Worms, Commoner soldiers, repelling advances from his fellow Gendarme Lords, educating his vassals about the Burner Worm threat, and other tasks it would be dangerous for him to leave unattended. Virmire is essential to the education program especially. We intend to make every effort to ensure this doesn't happen again, and hope you accept our sincerest apologies that things came to this." You tried your best to sound formal and dispassionate, but you're not sure how well you succeeded.
"I don't care about that," Oroxthanp grinds out, making you a bit nervous. "What made him think it was acceptable to send you?"
You're not really sure how to answer that. You just explained why you came. What else does he expect you to say?
You're saved from answering by, "It doesn't matter," being sighed out by what you assume is Plenarios, by far the largest of the Premièreombre. You think he might be larger than Caras' entire castle, though the size of this room and how the Council is spread unevenly throughout it makes it hard to properly assess size. You're not sure what to make of the vast sphere at his back end, glowing that same green: is it just a really divergent variation on the antennae? His legs really don't look large enough to move him at speed, his stubby two-pronged hands seem pretty limited in their ability to do anything, and his fangs -though objectively each is surely longer than your entire leg- appear humorously tiny. If something attacked him from one side or behind, you're not sure he'd be able to defend himself. Maybe he could roll over an attacker to squash them?...
"She's here now," he sighs out again, reminding you of some the oldest, most tired men you knew back in Abandonne. "And we work with what we have."
"It matters. If this Baron is wasting resources and doing foolish things-" Oroxthanp grinds out. Does he just always sound like that?
"We can determine that afterward," interrupts the headache-inducing visage that must be Zamvek. Like his second, Zamvek somehow seems darker to you than other Gendarmerie, and also has those odd back-mounted tubes emitting a gas glowing green. Unlike Tamzen, he has a clear face, with a mouth full of pointed teeth, not to mention his head is oddly large. His arms have a more human range of motion, though they end in three fingers with no thumb. His main body is largely out of your view, as he leans forward onto a large rock, as if it's a table. "The report is always first priority. So: report, Sabrina Vieuxpont."
You once again wait a moment to make sure nobody else is going to speak up. "Well, starting with the Burner threat..."
You proceed to go pretty exhaustively through the notes you've got reasonably memorized in regard to the Burner Worms spreading, being snuck through to Shifting Sands' territory by merchants unaware of what they've bought, the Commoners actively working to bring them into the Freelands...
"Wait," interrupts Zyzixion in the flattest voice you've ever heard. (Mildly feminine-sounding, which surprises you a bit) Her form is that of something sinuous and six-limbed, the limbs in question each lined with a blade toward the end. You don't see a mouth, or any other orifices (Once again: where is her voice coming from?), just the two eyes on the sides of the pointy head. She seems to be encased in some fluid (Transparent? Pale blue? You're unsure), and her surface beneath appears fairly smooth. She's one of the smallest of the Council, not much bigger than yourself if you're eyeballing things correctly, but somehow she's the one that makes you most nervous, relentlessly pacing about in a manner that reminds you of one time you caught a glimpse of a wolf stalking a deer. "How can Burners 'infest' anything?"
Um.
"Maybe she meant 'infiltrate'," suggests Quevale, whose eyes are bizarrely human (Though with a bit of a red glow around the edges, like you've seen a lot with Integrated humans in Soissons, and presumably how your own eyes look), has glowing green spots that you... don't think are eyes... a tube-shaped mouth with some fleshy tongue(?) licking out intermittently, a smattering of thick hairs across its head, and stubby arms ending in pincers. You're not entirely sure how he moves about: you don't see legs or similar, but he apparently can walk somehow. "Humans often use euphemisms and metaphors."
Uh, what?
"What would 'infiltrating anything larger than a rat' mean?" Zyzixion says with a tinge of doubt.
"Um!" you say, starting to have a picture of what is happening but struggling with words.
"I wouldn't know," Quevale says, stubby arms seeming to shrug. "But this kind of thing is part of why humans are so bad at reports."
"Um! I know I'm supposed to not interrupt-"
"Then why are you?" grinds out Oroxthanp.
"-but I think there's been a big misunderstanding? About prior reports?"
"Prior reports were very satisfactory," says Chistomique in one of the most intensely masculine voices you've ever heard. It's a bit jarring coming from his form: he looks very much like a delicate (albeit enormous) butterfly. When you were a girl listening to fairy tales from traveling entertainers and similar, butterflies had usually been presented as delicate girls... though admittedly Chistomique has four curved fangs for a mouth, rather than a butterfly's coiled whip of a mouth. You're not sure if the eyespots on Chistomique's wings are eyespots or just... eyes... on his wings... and you're also not entirely sure what the bits he's sitting on are. More legs coming out that end? They're holding him up off the ground, in any event. "Very detailed, very precise. My second was pleased to get such high-quality reports."
You wait antsily for a moment before responding. "Yes, um, Virmire is good like that, but Premièreombre Chistomique, I think maybe, um, something got... conflated? My husband doesn't... draw a clean verbal line between Commoners and the Burner Worms inside them? And I'm wondering if Virmire imitated this in his reports? Or something?"
Hisstop speaks up here. "Speak plainly, Sabrina." He reminds you of Caras at a glance, distinguished mainly by the... pincers? Mandibles? Whatever those are at the front. They seem to weigh his head down so heavily he can't keep his head up for long. "We need facts, not theories."
"Sorry, sorry, um, Premièreombre Hisstop. It sounds to me like the Council thinks my husband is just... fighting humans on the other side of the border? Which was true when my husband first took his territory? But at some point a parasitic worm got involved that gets inside the body."
Mortifère-ami quite literally drops down in front of your face: you're surprised to realize he's even smaller than Zyzixion, not much larger than your own head. He's also intensely spider-like, to the point you're left wondering if a past Gendarme looked at an actual spider and decided to just cleave as close to the spider design as possible. He's also... weirdly adorable. Sophie-and-Simone-would-agree-he's-adorable, you mean. (They usually gave you funny looks when you called something 'cute' or 'adorable') "Ah, yes, that 'Estvallee' business. Had to stop the infection spreading, so he killed the infected. Plagues are always nasty."
"Um, yes Premièreombre Mortifère-ami, but this is a bit different from tapeworms or measles. Burner Worms -the Commoners call them 'Brandstifters'- can grow extremely hot. I've seen hosts spontaneously burst into flame-" There's a noticeable pulling back motion from most of the Council here: only Zyzixion doesn't visibly react. "-and in a couple of minutes there was nothing but ash and bone and the Burner Worms left."
"Hmm. Not spies and saboteurs sneaking past your Baron. Have you catalogued symptoms?" asks Zyzixion, still sounding very dispassionate.
"Yes, Premièreombre Zyzixion," you say before launching into a recitation of every symptom from Virmire's notes. "... unfortunately, most symptoms don't show until pretty late into infection. My husband mostly relies on a Breed designed to check from the outside, and he can't proof them against the sun too much or it prevents them from detecting Burner Worm infections."
Efflu-zame speaks up here. You... don't really understand Efflu-zame's body. He looks like a transparent bag filled with some murky fluid, with the green glow all across his outer surface, an abbreviated face that doesn't make sense to you (Teeth? But no mouth, no throat?), all hanging from the ceiling in the center of the room. How does he move? Or... do much of anything? "Give design."
You almost say 'I beg your pardon', but manage to restrain yourself.
"It's not that important," Zyzixion says in disinterest.
Sussuron... laughs? Maybe? She's not what you were expecting. Her head is like someone heard the phrase 'heart-shaped face' and completely misunderstood the meaning (Even before the top part being the mouth, the antennae, and the three curved eyes creating an illusion of a smiling face), her legs are... shaped like musical notes?... you think?... and her long body is studded with... gems? You're not sure what those are. Flittertrust has them, too.
"Ever forgetting others are not you, Zyzix deary. Just because you and yours are proof against fire..."
"It's not that important," Zyzixion repeats. "Border problem. Border Lords can adapt."
"Border Lords can handle it," Zyzixion says in a bored, dismissive manner.
"Um!" you say, frustrated there wasn't a procedure for interrupting in an appropriate way.
"If they can't, and we let their designs die with them, we're putting ourselves behind." Hisstop points out.
"..." Zyzixion sighs, then stops and looks directly at you for the first time in this meeting. "Alright, fine. Your Baron needs to hand over this design for the good of the country. Just in case."
There's finally a lull for you to speak up without it being an interruption. "Shifting Sands has Burner Worm infections in his territory!"
Mortifère-ami makes a doubtful noise. "They'd have to go through your Baron's territory to do that unless they came by sea."
You restrain yourself from making a frustrated noise. "I know, Premièreombre Mortifère-ami. We only recently discovered that Burner Worm flesh was being snuck through in the form of 'candied bread'. I don't know how far it travels."
Quevale makes a confused noise. "What? 'Flesh'? 'Candied bread'?"
"I'm not sure how, but even a dead Burner Worm, chopped into pieces, can still infect. Eating infected animals can infect. It's... virulent. This 'candied bread' is bread with pieces of Burner Worms in it, disguised to seem like a nice, edible treat."
Perilintheque speaks up here. "Then this is not a border problem. We need this design." Perilintheque himself is... a crab. A crab with a foaming mouth, what appears to be moss on his shell, and five Gendarme eyes, but... a crab. You suspect it's no coincidence that there's a pool of water not far behind him.
"Yes, this is vital." "Indeed. It must be shared." "Swiftly, before the infection spreads much farther." "It might be in Soissons itself." "Adequate compensation." "Agreed."
Many (many, many) eyes rest upon you, a weight of expectation resting on your shoulders.
Well...
[]"Of course, absolutely!" You'll promise to do it. You're pretty sure Caras won't mind... too much?... giving the design away for free, and you really, really don't want all of the Freelands infected and burning. More cynically, the Council might forgive Caras if he asks for nothing. (Oroxthanp certainly suggested this angle is accurate)
[]"I'll need to inform my husband so he can make a decision. I'm still learning and don't want to make a promise my husband can't keep." You'll certainly be intending to talk to him, trying to convince him he should do it, but you don't want to overreach yourself or put him in an awkward spot.
[]"I would certainly hope my husband would be appropriately compensated for this service to all of the Freelands." Given what you saw with the Core trade, you suspect that handing over the Gatekeeper's design will be somehow costly to Caras, and anyway if it's that important surely the most powerful Gendarmerie in the Freelands can spare a little something, yes?
[]"We will gladly loan out Gatekeepers across the land in exchange for appropriate compensation." Gendarme Lords must surely have reasons for keeping their designs proprietary, and this could be an opportunity for Caras to get more influence. Soissons shows Breeds can work together even when sworn to different Lords...
[]Write-in. (Keep it simple)
(Got it up today after all! In part by hitting a decision point sooner than I anticipated, and not quite getting to all of the Council members in one post. We'll get to them, don't worry)
This sounds like the safe option, but it also puts a little strain on the "spouses are the same person" legal thingy:
[ ]"I'll need to inform my husband so he can make a decision. I'm still learning and don't want to make a promise my husband can't keep." You'll certainly be intending to talk to him, trying to convince him he should do it, but you don't want to overreach yourself or put him in an awkward spot.
[ ]"Of course, absolutely!" You'll promise to do it. You're pretty sure Caras won't mind... too much?... giving the design away for free, and you really, really don't want all of the Freelands infected and burning. More cynically, the Council might forgive Caras if he asks for nothing. (Oroxthanp certainly suggested this angle is accurate)
It's tempting to try and extract concessions here, but it genuinely is important that this infection doesn't spread. If we hold this over their head now, we might profit short-term, but it's not going to endear us to them long-term. Hopefully some of them, at least, appreciate our cooperation and competence.
Sabrina is probably better at politics than Caras, and an arrangement where we handle this sort of thing while he rides off to battle will suit everyone long-term.
Edit: Convinced by argument below, though I hope we can ensure it comes from a place of "yes, this is important, we will help, but we need compensation for the losses we'll accrue helping you"
[X]"I would certainly hope my husband would be appropriately compensated for this service to all of the Freelands." Given what you saw with the Core trade, you suspect that handing over the Gatekeeper's design will be somehow costly to Caras, and anyway if it's that important surely the most powerful Gendarmerie in the Freelands can spare a little something, yes?
…Oh boy.
These guys are definitely smarter but uhh.
I'm feeling like these guys also do Caras-level screw ups sometimes.
[X]"Of course, absolutely!" You'll promise to do it. You're pretty sure Caras won't mind... too much?... giving the design away for free, and you really, really don't want all of the Freelands infected and burning. More cynically, the Council might forgive Caras if he asks for nothing. (Oroxthanp certainly suggested this angle is accurate)
It doesn't help that Caras apparently views reporting to them as an unwanted chore and puts zero personal effort into it, leading to them misinterpreting his reports.
Anyway, these guys are our nominal bosses, I think it's well within their power to demand this of us:
[X]"Of course, absolutely!" You'll promise to do it. You're pretty sure Caras won't mind... too much?... giving the design away for free, and you really, really don't want all of the Freelands infected and burning. More cynically, the Council might forgive Caras if he asks for nothing. (Oroxthanp certainly suggested this angle is accurate)
With our peers, sure. With our bosses who are already upset with us for skipping our regular check-ins and badly reporting a virulent plague infesting our lands to the point where they didn't understand what we were dealing with? I'm a little more hesitant to demand anything of them.
The question is, what would they consider adequate compensation? Giving them the design without anything in return would open us up to infection.
This does assume that they can't make some sort of copy of the design, but even if they can there will be a time in which we don't have it. We could probably make due with the Gatekeepers we have, but they suddenly become irreplaceable for a time.
[X]"Of course, absolutely!" You'll promise to do it. You're pretty sure Caras won't mind... too much?... giving the design away for free, and you really, really don't want all of the Freelands infected and burning. More cynically, the Council might forgive Caras if he asks for nothing. (Oroxthanp certainly suggested this angle is accurate)
Tentatively this, because I'm pretty sure we don't have enough numbers to loan out and defend everything?
Also worth considering: burner worms being revealed as a more severe and widespread problem would give Caras and Sabrina a more important position in the future, having more experience both fighting and treating the worms as well as being the front line in the war against the burners. This importance will be useful in the long run, but it would require that we not fuck up here and overcharge for a diagnostic tool.
The question is, what would they consider adequate compensation? Giving them the design without anything in return would open us up to infection.
This does assume that they can't make some sort of copy of the design, but even if they can there will be a time in which we don't have it. We could probably make due with the Gatekeepers we have, but they suddenly become irreplaceable for a time.
They're not offering compensation, they're saying that a diagnostic core would be adequate compensation. Copies are not only possible but how this is normally done:
The core trade is about transferring a copy of one of our cores, or trading away a core we no longer use, in exchange for a core that might be of use to us.
The obvious approach is that Caras makes a copy and sends the council the copy, for them to further copy and distribute as necessary.
[X]"Of course, absolutely!" You'll promise to do it. You're pretty sure Caras won't mind... too much?... giving the design away for free, and you really, really don't want all of the Freelands infected and burning. More cynically, the Council might forgive Caras if he asks for nothing. (Oroxthanp certainly suggested this angle is accurate)
Turns out my reading comprehension is off today. We want to get back in the Council's good graces, so there is only really one good way forward. I'm pretty sure Caras will just be happy to have them off of his back.
[X]"Of course, absolutely!" You'll promise to do it. You're pretty sure Caras won't mind... too much?... giving the design away for free, and you really, really don't want all of the Freelands infected and burning. More cynically, the Council might forgive Caras if he asks for nothing. (Oroxthanp certainly suggested this angle is accurate)
Consulting Caras on this is right out. We're here on the basis that we're legally the same person, and thus someone who can make decisions. Moreover, our bosses have seemingly determined that we shall be parting with it.
As for loaning them out, I don't think we can do that. Didn't Caras have a limit on the number of breeds he could manage at a single time? I think is was mentioned as the reason he didn't always have a runner on hand.
To me the only real question is compensation. We could provide it for free, but we know it will cost us something. And one of them has fireproofing, we could really use that or just fire resistance.
[X]"Of course, absolutely!" You'll promise to do it. You're pretty sure Caras won't mind... too much?... giving the design away for free, and you really, really don't want all of the Freelands infected and burning. More cynically, the Council might forgive Caras if he asks for nothing. (Oroxthanp certainly suggested this angle is accurate)
With our peers, sure. With our bosses who are already upset with us for skipping our regular check-ins and badly reporting a virulent plague infesting our lands to the point where they didn't understand what we were dealing with? I'm a little more hesitant to demand anything of them.
Also worth considering: burner worms being revealed as a more severe and widespread problem would give Caras and Sabrina a more important position in the future, having more experience both fighting and treating the worms as well as being the front line in the war against the burners. This importance will be useful in the long run, but it would require that we not fuck up here and overcharge for a diagnostic tool.
I'm quoting you both because I had the same though about both your comments: The Council, and the Gendarmerie as a whole, don't think like humans. I thought that the only movement of cores we've seen thus far was in trade. I don't like making assumptions about motivations or extrapolations of culture. Maybe taking advantage of stupid overlords giving away their good breeds for nothing is considered acceptable. I don't see that as some kind of horrid and unfair surprise that Ghoul King might spring on us. Sabrina genuinely doesn't understand a lot of politics or Gendarmerie culture in general. Learning experiences are important, and all that.
Still, good points made about stopping the virulent plague. I don't mind the potential risk of losing out on a reward as a demonstration of further non-human style thinking regarding the Gendarmerie. It likely won't even work out that way.
As a write in, could we request copies of any further refinements made using the detection core? Purely to serve the common interest by putting the best detectors on the front line, of course, thereby reducing the risks to inner provinces.
I'm quoting you both because I had the same though about both your comments: The Council, and the Gendarmerie as a whole, don't think like humans. I thought that the only movement of cores we've seen thus far was in trade. I don't like making assumptions about motivations or extrapolations of culture. Maybe taking advantage of stupid overlords giving away their good breeds for nothing is considered acceptable. I don't see that as some kind of horrid and unfair surprise that Ghoul King might spring on us. Sabrina genuinely doesn't understand a lot of politics or Gendarmerie culture in general. Learning experiences are important, and all that.
Still, good points made about stopping the virulent plague. I don't mind the potential risk of losing out on a reward as a demonstration of further non-human style thinking regarding the Gendarmerie. It likely won't even work out that way.
Yeah, no, I don't mean they'll reward us even if we don't ask. At least one of them is framing it as payment of a debt Caras previously incurred. I mean that the discovery of a burner worm epidemic would give the professional Burner Worm Knowers a stronger position in future negotiations, and that this would best be facilitated by spreading the ability to detect burner worms. It's not an implied transaction, it's a revealed necessity.
[X]"I would certainly hope my husband would be appropriately compensated for this service to all of the Freelands." Given what you saw with the Core trade, you suspect that handing over the Gatekeeper's design will be somehow costly to Caras, and anyway if it's that important surely the most powerful Gendarmerie in the Freelands can spare a little something, yes?
If we can, let's request permission to hire un-integrated humans for things long term.
When the subject of cores came up in mealtime conversation, you ended up poking and prodding dear Caras for more information. He seemed rather more on guard than usual, until Virmire quietly pointed out, "She's not a rival, sire," at which point he quite clearly made an effort to relax and began to lay out reasonably clear explanations of the functions of various cores he had on hand.
Somewhat antsy about Caras' social skills, even when dealing with someone who is more like he himself, you talked Caras into letting you bring along a couple of extra cores for the trade, so you'd have more bargaining power if the Viscount didn't care for the offerings Caras had picked out. The conversation was almost like pulling teeth with a rusty pair of pliers, and Caras himself repeatedly insisted you not mention any of his other cores to the Viscount's emissary when the time came, but he did eventually cave (With what struck you very much as a sulk) and okay you bringing along an obsolete core that covered an inferior method for 'sniffing out' Burner Worms as well as a core for venom of startling potency. He made mournful sounds while you reasonably explained that if he didn't see any use for the venom one now, it was unlikely he'd have a use for it later, and perhaps the Viscount would find the idea of such power alluring, but he didn't argue with you overly much.
Cores are important. Caras is intensely protective over his cores. Cores are probably life and death for a Border Lord like him. Other Gendarme are rivals. They are not meant to protect his interests. We are here to protect his interests. I don't care if they're mad at us for it, we need to protect our husband's position and not give something that valuable away for free just to smooth things over. They said it themselves, they need it. If they need it, they can adequately compensate our husband for it.
Do we really want to give away the equivalent of a cutting edge military design just because the Council is mad at our husband? Until they start threatening us with possible sanctions (which I don't think they can, or Caras would be more worried about the Council instead of angry) we need to protect our husband's interests.
[X]"I would certainly hope my husband would be appropriately compensated for this service to all of the Freelands." Given what you saw with the Core trade, you suspect that handing over the Gatekeeper's design will be somehow costly to Caras, and anyway if it's that important surely the most powerful Gendarmerie in the Freelands can spare a little something, yes?
