The Strength of Hidden Threads
Fourteenth Day of the Second Month 294 AC
It did not take Hermetia long to decide how to answer, how to lie. "I am of course interested in seeing these documents before we can move any further," she smiled in turn. Politics and schemes were not a game of cyvasse, common as the simile might be. There are some games where the winning move is to flip over the board, and others where it was walking away.
When she handed over the quite believable incriminating documents not to the Sea Guard but to the Guildmaster of the Silt Sifters and the Blues, explaining that she did not believe them to be credible, the ambassador had expected to be doing the latter. Four days later it transpired to be the former.
***
Eighteenth Day of the Second Month 294 AC
"Guildmaster Neios of the Glassmaker's Guild," Ser Kennos proclaimed, as he ushered the elderly merman into the room, his hair and beard braided with gold and pearls and walking upon feet by sorcery grown. The concession of coming fully into her domain rather than using the pool had to mean something surely, but Heremtia did not have long to puzzle it out since he came out and said it.
"Strange is the day I must thank someone for doing the Blues a favor, but not so strange as to forget to offer courtesy where it is due." He offered the sort of elaborate bow that would not have been out of place in the high courts of the Old City, though the details were of course different. Thankfully, he did not linger longer than necessary upon formalities but recounted the reason for his visit, the unseen wave that was near to breaking upon Vialesk.
Guildmaster Sergun had already been secretly forced into resigning, following the attempt to create a scandal in the Office of Trade in an effort to shore up his already flagging support in the wake of his nephew's scandal. "It was a desperate gambit, but not an entirely unskilled one," the old merman grumbled. "He meant for us to close ranks against the Blues, who would be cast as the villains trying to prevent construction of the Terminus and the prosperity it would bring through willful sabotage and corruption, and of course tie in the protests as part of the same strategy." He paused a moment, obviously searching for something on Hermetia's face. "He judged that your lack of experience with our politics would make you the perfect pawn and ultimately the perfect channel through which a much greater scandal could be engineered."
"Seeing as my actions lead to his downfall, I am not offended at being underestimated," the sorceress replied dryly, leaving unsaid that she had been initially inclined to take the bait. She instead moved on to a more pressing question. "You have an understanding with the Blues in such matters?"
"Back channels and a network of neutral parties interested in maintaining the city's political health. I realize our system may seem... raucous from where you are sanding, my lady, but it has stood the test of time for longer than the lives of dragons. When someone is obviously trying to create chaos for their own gain, we can set our differences aside enough to deal with them."
So the monstrous coalition was not so monstrous after all, Hermetia thought, surprised.
Or perhaps it is a monster that usually lies beneath the surface. "I suppose it is too much to hope that the former Guildmaster Sergun was also behind the unrest against the Empire and the Terminus?"
"Unfortunately, yes," the elder statesman replied. "There are
hints that he might have been primed to enact this little cascade of scandals by someone close to him, but we can hardly have him subjected to deep mind probes on the basis of suspicion. It would set a very unwelcome precedent. The person or persons who organized the ill will among the tritons into protests, and likely unveiled Gerlos' indiscretion, remains free to act."
"Then at the risk of repeating myself..." Hermetia began.
"We who hold to the Gold are willing to help with your investigations, but we do not have what is called the
common touch." He was good, Hermetia could barely hear the disdain on the word common. "It is possible our involvement may hurt more than it helps."
What does Hermetia reply?
[] Accept aid from the Golds in the investigation
[] Refuse aid from the Golds in the investigation
[] Propose some other form of rapprochement now that she has gained some goodwill and respect
-[] Write in
OOC: This flowed really well. I have to say taking more time to flesh out backgrounds and systems may slow down writing, but it makes the process much smoother.
