[X] Distract Nori
I'm unsure if cursing Wilims social skills would actually keep Nori from initiating, it only talks about Wilim being unable to start things.
On the other hand, refocusing the relationship could still lead to the two running off together, just for worse reasons.
 
The wedding itself must conclude as planned, with V'neef L'nessa married to Cynis Belar Daro.
Hmm. Good enough. Grace is a woman resplendent in a destiny that makes her attractive to everyone but her mistress. This will make Grace and Ambraea's future conversation even more complex and awkward. :V
the marriages of Sesus Ambar to V'neef Ambraea and V'neef Darting Fish to Sesus Kasi,
Good to see that panned out. Does Darting fish mind much that his wife occasionally makes bedroom eyes at his adoptive aunt to distract her on occasion, or is the poor boy completely oblivious?
Sometimes, you're simply wrong.
Lol. Drama. 🥳

[X] Curse Wilim's social skills

Give L'nessa something to distract her from her nerves and some funny stories to tell her grand children about her marriage.
 
"Pearl," says one of the servants, currently engaged in a rapid-paced card game with an off-duty guard.

"Five Gardens," you say in reply, tone respectful, but not deferential.

Gardens looks over at his partner, a thickset woman wearing V'neef colours. "She's Lady L'nessa's new handmaiden. Pearl, this is Wood Sparrow."

"Mm." Wood Sparrow barely flicks her eyes up in your direction, instead placing down several cards that make Garden curse. You hide a smile as you slip past them.

"The call is coming from inside the house, Joybringer."

[X] Curse Wilim's social skills

I think Yaogin might hate this...but I want to see some critical social failure at a fancy party.

Also, is it pronounced Will-em or Vilim?
 
[X] Curse Wilim's social skills

Requires the least maintenance, which given we're also looking for a Lunar is important. Hopefully Nori won't take it on himself to force anything despite Wilim's curse, but the harm is limited.

Seducing Nori isn't picked not because Grace doesn't like it, but more because it requires more effort to maintain.
 
[X] Distract Nori

So I think this is the option with the most hope for success for Graces's primary mission. Also the one requiring the most effort I suppose.
But most importantly it is the one that seem the most interesting.
Also great to see old friends again. I am really looking forward to any drama between Ambrea and Grace!
Maybe the other shoe will drop this time?
 
So, I've been back reading the thread after catching up on the quest, and there's been a lot of interesting discussion on the morality of the Bronze Faction and the Realm. Something that I've really come to appreciate after reading through some of the setting books is that that discussion is relevant in-character essentially only for Sidereals.

No matter how good an argument you have for why it should be done, the Lunars and Solars are hardly going to allow themselves to be slaughtered en masse, and while you can probably find quite a few Dragonblooded who would go against the Realm, it would be ridiculous for them to therefore say that they should hand over the mandate of creation to the Solars. Leave aside the morality of the issue, there's just no reason that the vast majority of Dragonblooded would give up their own rule even when they disapprove of the specific current rulers. It's only the Sidereals who are trying to keep Creation stable and ask "okay, whose leadership would be better for Creation?" No other Exalt group would plausibly go against their faction en masse.

And obviously even within these factions different Exalts conduct themselves with different levels of morality, but the base question of "Who should rule over Creation?" isn't answered initially on the basis of morality, it's either "these guys want to kill me" or "being the elite class of an empire benefits me," and then later they decide how to conduct themselves. So at the end of the day, the nicer Dynasts who don't abuse mortals are roughly on the same side as the guys with the monopoly on the slave trade (we can see that right this very update) while being closer to them than even the most careful and least bloody Silver Pact member, and the same is true for that Silver Pact member with the Lunar who runs around opening Shadowlands in Realm satrapies.

I think this all this leads to a very dynamic and enjoyable setting, since everyone is mostly acting for their own benefit, and when they don't, it's for interesting personal reasons. There's no set "good" faction, it's possible to look at the setting from any given faction's side and cast everything in a new light.
 
So at the end of the day, the nicer Dynasts who don't abuse mortals are roughly on the same side as the guys with the monopoly on the slave trade (we can see that right this very update) while being closer to them than even the most careful and least bloody Silver Pact member, and the same is true for that Silver Pact member with the Lunar who runs around opening Shadowlands in Realm satrapies.
House Cynis makes for good villains in a lot of stories for obvious reasons, but a thing about them that I appreciate is that like, their monopoly on the slave trade is more or less the only reason that the other houses aren't all just importing their own from their conquests, as is more or less the norm for expansionist empires across Creation. Their interest in preserving this for themselves also leads them do things like push for the laws that make the children of slaves be born free in the Realm, and makes them really insistent on maintaining them and like, not allowing the dispossessed or most criminals on the Blessed Isle to be enslaved either. They don't do this for moral reasons at all, purely financial ones, but it makes it easier for someone like Grace to have really mixed feelings about them.
 
People are people. They will have good or bad reasons for everything. And SOME people are going to push against the grain no matter how tight knit a society is.

House Cynis member genuinely invested in the protection and interest of slaves. Perhaps with an eye towards abolishing the institution. Perhaps not.

Is an interesting concept for a wood caste. Probably gonna steal that for my own game.
 
[X] Curse Wilim's social skills

His life outside of the mission parameters is, as they say, 'Not our circus, not our monkeys', especially since he's still fated to create his great artworks. There will be other weddings, and he'll recover from the ignominy of whatever shoe he puts in his mouth sooner rather then later. And this means we can focus on our other objectives and also, like, not make this any more uncomfortable then it already is for Grace?
 
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