I won't mind if yours wins, Tascion, but I'll stick to mine as I feel it important to start accusations with most immediate concern and verifiable, to least. We're not talking to the priests. We're talking at the priests, but our message is for the civilians we've just rescued.
If priests attack us right after we call them out for not protecting their people, that's admitting we're right and they can't talk their way out of it. They're priests, I expect them to want to talk and play to their audience. Once we make them engage on that bit of validity, that they really didn't protect their people (maybe they'll argue that it's our fault for attacking in the first place) then we can smoothly pivot to how this is retaliatory for their actions against us.
For reference, I am very unlikely to close the vote before Tuesday, so feel free to engage in vigorous discussion and whatnot.
Also, currently the vote is tied between 'Sabrina bares her teeth smiles and expresses veiled criticisms genuine concern' and 'Oh? Is that why you're fine with Freelanders burning to death?' so more voting needs to happen before I can close the vote regardless.
Had a thought earlier today. Maybe we should take this opportunity to reintroduce ourselves. I don't think we've ever given anyone here a substitute for us being "Dominators". And really, it would nicely pivot off of our actions. 'We are the Gendarmerie; we protect people. It's in the name. Just look at what we did against the Dominators tonight.'
I also think we should offer the sisters at least the opportunity to stay or come with us. They have put themselves way out on a limb for us by publicly opposing the priesthood. While they could certainly be useful here, it doesn't feel right just washing our hands of them at the next opportunity. I'm not sure Sabrina would forgive herself if she later learned they were burnt at the stake for vouching for us.
So I'm going to switch up my vote with a variation of @Kai Merah's. It rewords a few things to help the train of thought flow better, but I tried to keep the intent largely the same. Variation is:
Adding a very brief introduction of our faction so people have a non-Dominator label for us.
Connecting our concern over the protection of innocents to their endangering it.
Focusing on dropping people off in safeish areas, regardless of the presence of priests. I feel this lets Sabrina judge whether it is safe to leave people behind with the priests. If it is, we don't need to spend time finding somewhere else to leave them.
Altering the retreat priority to explicitly include those who want to leave with us and our capture in our priority list. The old variant felt uncomfortably close to the 'retreat, abandoning almost all the Breeds' vote @Ghoul King mentioned that would, "automatically [give] up on bringing the kidnapper-creature back". It's still not a primary priority, but I do want Sabrina to at least try to extract with it.
[X] We're not Dominators, we are the Gendarmerie. As amply demonstrated tonight, we protect people. It's our job.
-[X] Smile time, "Speaking of protection, I'm so glad to see so many of you got through this night unscathed! It's truly sad how many victims were taken from the middle tier by these creatures, defenseless in their homes. How successful were you in rescuing innocents from danger?" You're pretty sure the answer is 'they weren't trying to do that at all'.
-[X] Brittle smile, "Then again, we came here because some amongst the priesthood, like the one with the silver earring in the mark of the Saint of Honesty, are marketing brandsifters as 'candied bread' and selling it to unwitting innocents in the Freelands. Entire towns have burned for this deception. So perhaps protection of innocents is not foremost on your mind."
-[X] Retreat, dropping off people in safe-ish areas where possible.
--[X] Prioritize getting yourself, anyone coming with, and your capture (in that order) out of the city.
I won't mind if yours wins, Tascion, but I'll stick to mine as I feel it important to start accusations with most immediate concern and verifiable, to least. We're not talking to the priests. We're talking at the priests, but our message is for the civilians we've just rescued.
If priests attack us right after we call them out for not protecting their people, that's admitting we're right and they can't talk their way out of it. They're priests, I expect them to want to talk and play to their audience. Once we make them engage on that bit of validity, that they really didn't protect their people (maybe they'll argue that it's our fault for attacking in the first place) then we can smoothly pivot to how this is retaliatory for their actions against us.
You are assuming that they really didn't protect people, which it should be noted is a guess. They could immediately say "yes we did in fact protect people" and discredit anything that comes after.
There is also, as I mentioned before, the issue of people only being in danger in the first place because of us.
Probably a difference in perspective/background. I don't consider smiling while knifing people with words to be lying. Indeed, smiling in the face of open hostility is a threat as much as our words.
In my perspective, the angry shouting one in a conversation is always considered the unreasonable one. To get yourself taken seriously, one must always speak calmly and pleasantly. Smiling just sharpens the knives of our words.
Probably a difference in perspective/background. I don't consider smiling while knifing people with words to be lying. Indeed, smiling in the face of open hostility is a threat as much as our words.
In my perspective, the angry shouting one in a conversation is always considered the unreasonable one. To get yourself taken seriously, one must always speak calmly and pleasantly. Smiling just sharpens the knives of our words.
You're conflating two different concepts: You're imagining that we're in a retail store and that we're angrily demanding to see the manager in the face of a smiling carefully neutral retail worker.
What's going on is more similar to a woman and her ex having an argument in front of her ex's friends. One of the options is for the woman to absolutely freak out, which we're not voting for. One is for her to smile and be nasty… which, since the friends are familiar with the ex they're naturally going to side with the ex over the nasty smiling woman. The last option is to calmly but forcefully and bluntly lay out our grievances. This is the most likely option to get support under these circumstances. That's what my vote is for.
A smiling person who's actively playing social manipulative games in front of you while smiling, also, is someone that the accusation of being a liar is more likely to stick to, whereas a person that says 'I'm upset with you, and this is why' in a clear fashion is someone that it's hard to make the accusation of 'liar' stick to.
You're, what, imagining "You killed my people" to be a freak out while throwing shoes and shit. That's absolutely not what the option is. It's "You've upset me. Here's why." Open. Honest. Forceful. Angry, but not unreasonably so. And free of the taint of potential manipulation.
The priest has a pre-existing relationship with these people and has preemptively told his people that we lie. Playing the part of a manipulative person who shanks people with words is playing right into his trap. Playing the part of a blunt person who's honest and open with their feelings does not play into his trap and, in fact, makes him look like a liar.
You're, what, imagining "You killed my people" to be a freak out while throwing shoes and shit. That's absolutely not what the option is. It's "You've upset me. Here's why." Open. Honest. Forceful. Angry, but not unreasonably so. And free of the taint of potential manipulation.
The priest has a pre-existing relationship with these people and has preemptively told his people that we lie. Playing the part of a manipulative person who shanks people with words is playing right into his trap. Playing the part of a blunt person who's honest and open with their feelings does not play into his trap and, in fact, makes him look like a liar.
Had a thought earlier today. Maybe we should take this opportunity to reintroduce ourselves. I don't think we've ever given anyone here a substitute for us being "Dominators". And really, it would nicely pivot off of our actions. 'We are the Gendarmerie; we protect people. It's in the name. Just look at what we did against the Dominators tonight.'
I actually quite like this, except that it feels like we will get countered by the whole 'We're killing the Blessed' and not actually protecting them part. Tascion's version works for me too though, and does bring up the Gendermane name, even if it doesn't really bring it to the forefront like in subsider's verison.
I actually quite like this, except that it feels like we will get countered by the whole 'We're killing the Blessed' and not actually protecting them part. Tascion's version works for me too though, and does bring up the Gendermane name, even if it doesn't really bring it to the forefront like in subsider's verison.
We only killed blessed because we were protecting others from the depredations of the priesthood here. As far as I can recall, of the non-priesthood blessed we've killed, all attempted to harm us. Even when one of their holy soldiers showed up during our rescue operations we didn't attack.
Heck the guards with us saw for themselves that we 'tried' to capture their commander only for him to self-immolate.
I don't think it's a very strong argument against us, really.
EDIT: Also I feel like Tascion's vote is so aggressive and offensively worded that i don't think we'll be able to get to that part before they attack us.
You know what? Ghoul King said he rarely goes for exact wording anyway, so how about a vote like this?
[] Plan Neutral
[] Overall goal of inciting rebellion / damaging reputation of priesthood:
-[] Priority 1: Accusation of Freelander sabotage mentioning details of
-merchant with the silver earring in the mark of the Saint of Honesty
- Lots of bread sent to Sables de la Haines
- Estvallee and animals burning to Brandstifters
-[] Priority 2: Accusation of lack of care for own citizens
- [] Upon combat beginning, prioritise retreat, including objectives 1) keeping flying kidnapper, 2) dropping people off in safe-ish areas that are out of sight of the priests, 3) Getting out of city while preserving forces
No tone specified, leave Sabrina to figure out the details of her own emotions following the overall goal.
((EDIT: Switching back to Tascion's vote to consolidate under 'please include details' vote))
EDIT: Also I feel like Tascion's vote is so aggressive and offensively worded that i don't think we'll be able to get to that part before they attack us.
[X]Oh? "Is that why you're fine with Freelanders burning to death from 'blessings'?" How revolting.
-[X] "And you even care so little for your own people that *I* did the work of saving them for you. Pathetic
—[X] Prepare for violence just in case. If he looks like he's going to strike, try to make sure you strike first.
Alright, I'll be a bit surprised if I actually get the update out today, but I'm closing the vote since conversation seems done and I can get started on the writing part.
Tascion's write-in wins, which is to say Sabrina will be wondering why the city's anti-kidnapper defenses were so easily toppled if there's plenty of Branstifter flesh to send off to Freelander territory, making pointing remarks about how she was here to retaliate for the prior and yet is pretty sure she did more to help locals than the priests, followed by retreating with an effort to keep protecting the people she's escorting, with her absolute top priority being getting out safely.
Update incoming, please stand by.
Scheduled vote count started by Ghoul King on Aug 30, 2024 at 7:31 PM, finished with 34 posts and 10 votes.
[X]"How could you have been unprepared for this kidnapping bugs if you have enough Brandstifters to send off as candy bread to merchants heading to Estvallee and other Freelander villages. Your merchants, like the one with the silver earring in the mark of the Saint of Honesty, and caused Freelanders and animals burn to death from your 'blessings'. I wonder how long before Sables de la Haines ends up burning like Estvallee? With so much bread going there instead of your own people you must have plenty to spare."
-[X]"It's truly sad how many victims were taken from the middle tier by these creatures, defenseless in their homes. The evil of it even forced these Gendermane forces to help them, despite being here to seek justice against you. How successful were you in rescuing innocents from danger?" You're pretty sure the answer is 'they weren't trying to do that at all'.
-[X] retreat, dropping people off in safe-ish areas that are out of sight of the priests
-[X]Prioritizing getting yourself out of the city if they try anything.
[X]Oh? "Is that why you're fine with Freelanders burning to death from 'blessings'?" How revolting.
-[X] "And you even care so little for your own people that *I* did the work of saving them for you. Pathetic
—[X] Prepare for violence just in case. If he looks like he's going to strike, try to make sure you strike first.
[X]Oh? "Is that why you're fine with Freelanders burning to death from 'blessings'?" How revolting.
-[X] You care more if your followers perish simply for experiencing my corruptions then seeing to their safety, of hoarding brandsifters to try and scorch me and mine to the ground?
-[X]But of course you do. You need them to come and stoke your flames for you, to tend to your cauldrons and fight in your wars. Teufel lies? The biggest lie is this: if Teufel died tomorrow he would live on! So long as shadows are needed to drive you all back to their pyres! A war everlasting, a blaze ever burning!
[X]Prove. Me. Wrong. Show warmth without the hate. That, is how Teufel truly dies! But Teufel lies, does he? Just like how Eddstat still stands, and didn't burn to the ground thanks to these men you call priests.
[X]Smile time. "I'm so glad to see so many of you got through this night unscathed! It's truly sad how many victims were taken from the middle tier by these creatures, defenseless in their homes. How successful were you in rescuing innocents from danger?" You're pretty sure the answer is 'they weren't trying to do that at all'.
[X]Smile time. "I'm so glad to see so many of you got through this night unscathed! It's truly sad how many victims were taken from the middle tier by these creatures, defenseless in their homes. How successful were you in rescuing innocents from danger?" You're pretty sure the answer is 'they weren't trying to do that at all'.
-[X] Continue smiling. "Then again, I suppose you were too busy selling Brandstifter bread to merchants, like the one with the silver earring in the mark of the Saint of Honesty, and letting Freelanders and animals burn to death from your 'blessings'. I wonder how long before Sables de la Haines ends up burning like Estvallee? With so much bread going there instead of your own people you must have plenty to spare."
-[X] retreat, dropping people off in safe-ish areas that are out of sight of the priests
-[X]Prioritizing getting yourself out of the city if they try anything.
[X] We're not Dominators, we are the Gendarmerie. As amply demonstrated tonight, we protect people. It's our job.
-[X] Smile time, "Speaking of protection, I'm so glad to see so many of you got through this night unscathed! It's truly sad how many victims were taken from the middle tier by these creatures, defenseless in their homes. How successful were you in rescuing innocents from danger?" You're pretty sure the answer is 'they weren't trying to do that at all'.
-[X] Brittle smile, "Then again, we came here because some amongst the priesthood, like the one with the silver earring in the mark of the Saint of Honesty, are marketing brandsifters as 'candied bread' and selling it to unwitting innocents in the Freelands. Entire towns have burned for this deception. So perhaps protection of innocents is not foremost on your mind."
-[X] Retreat, dropping off people in safe-ish areas where possible.
--[X] Prioritize getting yourself, anyone coming with, and your capture (in that order) out of the city.
You tilt your head consideringly, eyes wide and voice innocently curious. "I find myself curious-"
"Shut her up!" the head priest(?) booms. You think he's shouting at the soldiers amid your forces? The people immediately around him don't seem to take it as an order.
"-as to why the city's defenses against these kidnapper things failed so readily." You ignore how more or less literally everyone is giving you a look loaded with confusion and/or bafflement. "After all, Neustadt apparently has B-Brandstifters aplenty, given how generously you've been sharing them with traveling merchants, such as the one man, supposedly a Cultivare traveler, with a silver earring in the mark of the Saint of Honesty?" A surprising number of people step back when you drop that name, giving you a distinct 'what is this in front of me' look; you're really not sure what to make of that. "So many 'blessings' going out to Freelanders-" Lots of disbelief and disgust, including that the families you've been escorting are clearly reconsidering throwing in with you at all. "-so they then burn out and die, since of course they don't know how to manage these... blessings."
You tap your chin thoughtfully, ignoring how the head priest has turned to speak furiously to several of the people in his immediate reach.. "It's funny, but I was really here to put a stop to this, kill the people making it happen, and yet it seems to me that I and the Gendarmerie ended up protecting more people than you have, mister priest." You gesture at how about thirty people are with you, which is comparable to the group in front of you, but... "This is the... eleventh or so group of people we have escorted to safety from the flying creatures?"
The soldiers on your side start a little, looking uncertainly between you and the head priest: these soldiers saw your diligent rescue efforts, they know you're telling the truth. You don't know what they're thinking in regard to the head priest: your impression is him and his didn't bother to look for people to aid, but you don't know if that's actually true, and more importantly you don't know if the soldiers would expect it to be true. The families glancing uncertainly between you and the soldiers don't know how many you've saved, but seem to take some kind of cue from the soldiers, looking less hesitant to stick with you.
Your expression goes genuinely a bit mournful and guilty as you think of how many people you've gotten snatched. "It's tragic how many in the middle tier were snatched away, right from their very homes." Here your expression goes a bit flat; you can't help yourself, as you're reining yourself in from foolishly attacking right now. "I wonder how many people you saved this night?"
The head priest glances your way, eyes narrowed, but continues talking to his people. You think you hear tromping feet not far off, and you see a couple of archers scrounged up an arrow apiece from somewhere: time to go.
"I wish I could stay to discuss our respective successes-" you say as you direct your forces to turn about. "-but there are only so many hours in the night! Toodles!"
The families you escorted don't follow, staring after you with a variety of expressions on their faces. The soldiers start to follow out of habit, a couple glancing fearfully skyward, before they clearly remember the kidnappers are gone and stop. One pulls their sword -you think it's the second in command?- but then stands there uncertainly as the Suncrawlers dragging the kidnapper-creature shuffle past, and then when a Roller guard arrives from a side street and rejoins your group, they take a step back.
The 'blessed' soldiers with the priests are staring with confused hate, weapons at the ready, but not immediately pursuing. The five individuals with rapiers share confused glances and then shrug at each other. Even the priests seem unsure how to take your abrupt departure.
"Where do you want to be dropped off," you quietly ask the two sisters.
"Back with our family?" says the older sister automatically, yet sounding like she's unsure that's really correct.
"Away," quietly murmurs the younger sister in a far-off tone. "Away from our uncle-" the older sister's grip tightens on you oddly. "-and the priests. We're Teufel's children now. They'd purify us." The older sister makes a choked sobbing noise, like being 'purified' is a horrifying thing.
Um. You don't... entirely understand... but you say, "I... can take you home with me to the Freelands?"
The older sister makes a horrified noise and chokes out, "N-n-no, we mustn't- I mean, we couldn't possibly prevail upon you to-" An arrow whistles right into a nearby Roller, sinking halfway into a leg. The older sister gasps in horror, goes quiet for a while, then says, "We... accept your most generous offer, Dame."
You remind yourself that the younger sister, at least, would almost certainly have been carried off and had... who knows what done to her... if not for your intervention. You shouldn't feel guilty for helping her. (You feel guilty anyway: the kidnappers wouldn't have shown up if you'd not been knocking over cauldrons and killing Burner Worms)
The travel to the breach you made is comparatively swift and uncomplicated, even with having to keep the pace slow enough for the Suncrawlers with the kidnapper-creature to not fall behind. You pass hollow-eyed people who barely react to your passage, a number of individuals -some armed, some not- who spot your forces and turn right around and leave, and twice pass squads of soldiers that glare at you with enough hate it's clear they'd kill you with a thought if only they could, but equally they are also clearly exhausted. You similarly pass a group of archers that seem to be hunting for arrows: two of them take a shot apiece, but the arrows travel not much more than halfway to your forces before hitting the ground. Clearly, this brief battle was exhausting for the human defenders of the city: your Breeds, by contrast, are basically fully ready, aside the various injuries they've sustained. You have newfound appreciation for how well-suited to battle they are. By a similar token, you feel only modestly tired: you really didn't have to do much in a direct sense.
Almost all your forces successfully reunite with you along the way, with only the four Suncrawlers at the top left behind to do their grim duty. You notice new damage on some of the returning guards -one Boulder has had its right eye put out completely- but you're surprised no blessed soldier killed any of them.
The travel through the fields is even less noteworthy, people continuing to stay shut in their homes... possibly because the fog thinly shrouds the world outside the city. You don't see any more kidnapper-creatures as you go, but... that doesn't necessarily mean none are about...
Beardy Man is on the ground when you reach the forest, with Felix and Konrad standing pretty far from the pair of Runners. A quick interrogation confirms what you suspect: Beardy Man at some point became very agitated, tried to go retrieve his sword, and the Runners summarily disabled him.
It also turns out Ada and the older sister know each other.
"Yyyyoouu traitorrrr," Ada slurs out at the older sister.
Said older sister squeaks and says, "Ada?!? What- why- I don't-"
You say, "We met by chance, and hit it off pretty well until her boyfriend returned with guards to try to kill me." The older sister struggles with words while you focus on getting everything ready. "But we really must be away swiftly before dawn comes, make it harder for pursuit to find us!"
Konrad and Felix and the two sisters (Older: Svenja. Younger: Tanja) end up having quite the discussion about their respective adventures, where Konrad's ambivalence continues, Felix renews his determination to come with (He grudgingly acknowledges that the priesthood managing the cauldrons is real protection, but seems determined to cast your attack as a net good regardless), and Svenja wrings her hands and clearly wishes she could see a better option while Tanja continues to be worryingly fatalistic in a 'this is all fine' manner.
They all stare uncomfortably at you as Ada and Teo are tied up and loaded onto the top of the carriage. They similarly are clearly uncomfortable with you leaving Beardy Man unguarded in the woods. Nobody says anything, though. When you direct the Workers to get the kidnapper-creature lashed to the top-back of the carriage, Konrad at least musters up the will to ask what that's about, but seems to regret it when you mention you want to show it to your husband, in case he recognizes it.
Once the carriage is underway and you ask if anyone is hungry, everyone (Well, except dead-eyed Tanja) seems relieved to have something ordinary to think about, agreeing they're quite hungry.
The uncomfortable silence returns when you bring out a bucket of Scuttlers and they just stare in horror.
(Tanja eventually tries one and insists it tastes like salmon. You haven't had salmon, so you shrug. This at least gets the others to stop being so uncomfortable, even if they refuse to have any themselves)
The first day is tense for a variety of reasons: you're worried that Neustadt forces will go hunting for you and find you in short order, for one, but also absolutely no one has any idea how to behave around each other. Ada and Teo having lots of upset and/or very rude things to say when the paralytic venom wears off doesn't exactly help.
Tanja seems basically immune to all this social awkwardness, focusing on purely practical matters like eating, sleeping, and bodily functions less suited for frank discussion in polite company. This in turn seems to help the others adjust, perhaps because you are straightforward and patient with the girl. (There's a moment of ambivalence when Tanja asks if she can sleep against a Suncrawler, as she thinks they look soft, and you explain they sweat a numbing poison; the others look disturbed by this revelation. Explaining Tanja can sleep against a Roller instead intensifies everyone else's discomfort even as Tanja takes in this suggestion expressionlessly and promptly goes and tries it) How to arrange everyone for sleeping is worked out and so on.
By the time night falls, no Neustadt forces have shown up: you're not sure whether they didn't try in the first place (Konrad, Felix, and Svenja shrug off the topic; they don't know what their fellows would do in this situation), or if they went looking but didn't recognize the tracks your forces leave as they move, or what. Regardless, this is a tremendous relief to you.
Over the following five days, people adjust, even Ada and Teo in spite of themselves. Konrad, Felix, and Svenja do eventually try Scuttlers (They collectively agree they Scuttlers taste like fish, though they disagree on the kind of fish), but are clearly relieved when you have the Runners range out and come back with fruits, berries, and the occasional rabbit or bird. (There's not really enough Scuttlers for seven people: there were more than enough to feed you for this trip even if it took a full month, but divided seven ways they wouldn't last that long) Ada especially really doesn't want to submit (Teo mostly seems too confused to stick to anger all that strongly), but basic human needs forcing her to choose whether she'd rather be hungry, thirsty, and humiliated by soiling herself, or fed, hydrated, and only watched by a Runner when she relieves herself... Ada keeps picking the latter, even as she clearly hates it.
(She tries to run once. It's a swiftly-terminated effort that has her land in a bad way, leaving her with a bit of a limp for the remainder of the trip)
Tanja's dead-eyed attitude upsets you enough you find yourself regularly trying to draw out something a bit more... normal, happy child-like. You engage her in what games you can think of, answer what few questions she raises with a far more verbose explanation than you might otherwise, and just generally try to be available and cheerful.
One time, she asks why you attacked Neustadt.
You thought pretty long about how to answer her.
[]"I was protecting people in the Freelands." It's true enough, though maybe too abstract.
[]"I was punishing the priesthood of Neustadt for their dishonesty." Not quite accurate to your starting intentions, but substantially true in the end.
[]"I was protecting my husband's interests." Maybe a bit misleading, but not really false.
[]"It was the closest, most threatening Commoner stronghold by the border." You might've attacked someplace else first if Neustadt were further.
[]"An entire village in the Freelands died, and it was Neustadt's fault." 'An eye for an eye' isn't how you'd been thinking of this, but it's not exactly wrong, is it?
[]"I didn't really know what was going on in Neustadt. If I'd known more, I might have handled the situation differently." You'd really thought Neustadt as a whole was more involved and aware of the horrors be perpetuated.
(Please don't do a write-in here. I might accept one if I feel like I should've thought of the write-in myself, but that's about it)
Finally, finally, finally, you make it home to the castle-
"What is this?" asks a being you've not seen before, hunching down into your face (They're very large and tall, wider than Caras and higher than he usually lifts his head to), which is pretty menacing given the jagged tusks sticking directly out from the sides of their mouth. "Your security is terrible." They have vast, feather-like wings trailing out from behind their eyes.
"Madam Ixtriss, please, why would I let-" You skirt around 'Ixtriss' and rush over to hug Caras. Mmmm. Still comfy. "-yes, hello Sabrina- why would I let a dangerous person in while we're talking?"
Ixtriss looks suspiciously towards Caras. "You're distracted. Busy. You said so."
Caras heaves a put-upon fluting noise that absolutely terrifies your compatriots. (Except Tanja, who just stares curiously into the darkness at all the movement and all) "I'm strategically busy, I don't have the weeks to spare to march to Soissons, I'm still securing my territory against the Burners as I was assigned to do, working on spreading word to my vassals so they don't get infected by Burners, and just recently the Baron of Shifting Sands made a move on my territory and if I'm gone you know he'll push harder!"
"Sire really is very busy, Madam," Virmire adds blandly.
Then a woman peeks out from behind Ixtriss, notices you hugging Caras, and comes over. "Oh my," she says, startling you with that layer of extra coming from a human. "You actually Integrated someone?" Upon closer inspection, it becomes obvious that her eyes glow red a bit... and there's extra tiny bits of red around her human eyes. And you're realizing what you first took for a chestplate piece is actually a slick black carapace, under a not-terribly-thick shirt, with the carapace seeming to go right into the skin at her collarbone. And she's got antennae peeking out from under her helmet... wait, are those wings in back? You thought that was a silk cape!
Ooookay, you got enough hugs for now, you should actually take in... whatever is happening right now. "Hi, hello, Sabrina née Vieuxpont here, what is going on?"
The other woman looks amused. "Yvette of Premièreombre Zamvek, here to scold your Baron for missing out on his 5-year checkup." She pauses. "He was supposed to be in Soissons six months ago."
"Things were worse back then, I already sent a letter explaining that! If I leave now I'll likely be set back months, maybe even years!" Caras sounds weirdly pleading. It bothers you. It bothers you a lot.
Ixtriss makes a contemptuous noise that terrifies Konrad and Felix into ducking back into the carriage even though that means bumping up against the Workers unloading it. "You make bad decisions, you suffer consequences. Not our problem."
"I'd send Virmire but he's busy producing proclamations and similar, and this would be a terrible time to experiment with a new second! Just give me... six more months? Things should be better then!" Caras' increasing upset incites upset in you in turn.
So you raise a hand and say, "I could go?" even though you don't really want to be away from Caras again so soon.
Everyone turns to look at you. Ixtriss somehow oozes contempt. "Why is the human talking like she matters."
Yvette rolls her eyes but looks fondly exasperated. "Come on, Ixtriss, we've been over this. Words like that stay inside, so people don't revolt."
Virmire makes a considering noise. "We would need some time to brief her some on the details, but Sabrina is qualified. And I have plenty of notes; we'd only need an hour or two to cover the main points, I should think."
Yvette blinks, while Ixtriss oozes disbelief. "Uh... we need an actual member of the household, with the Baron's authority. Not a retainer." Ixtriss adds,"Some people-pleaser servant is not adequate."
You draw yourself up to your full height, which annoyingly turns out to be noticeably less than Yvette's height, wrap one arm possessively around one of Caras' dangling legs, and haughtily declare, "I'll have you know you're looking at the Baron's wife."
"Marriage makes the two legally the same entity," Virmire says, nodding, while Yvette gives you a funny look and Ixtriss radiates disbelief.
Caras beams at you, and you blush slightly. "I quite forgot about that clause! That's perfect, Virmire, Sabrina, get right on it. The sooner this is handled, the sooner we can get back to proper work!" Then he pauses, glancing over at the carriage with the six humans who aren't you, plus the kidnapper creature. "Actually, hold that thought. How did your endeavor turn out Sabrina? And... why do you have a Szumowiny?"
You blink at that. "You know what it is?"
"Oh yes," Caras says somewhat absently. "Nasty little infestation in Ice Lake eighty years ago, if it weren't for the Scaled Folk and the Divers I might've had to just move Lac De Glace away entirely. Very unpleasant business."
You nod in thanks. "Okay, good, we should talk about this more later, but for now..."
You give an abbreviated explanation of the situation in Neustadt, how your attack went (Poorly for your desired goal, but the Szumowiny will apparently be causing Neustadt trouble for a while, and you learned a lot of importance), explain the basic context of Konrad, Felix, Svenja, and Tanja, followed by pointing out Ada and how she both has a Burner Worm in her and knows how to not die to it ("Oh my. That could be very helpful indeed."), plus vaguely mentioning Teo's relevancy as Ada's boyfriend.
"I... guess we can take the girl?" Yvette says uncertainly, still looking at you oddly.
"Let me gather the relevant notes," Virmire says, heading off to his tower as he says it.
Caras, meanwhile, leans down and starts explaining the situation more properly: every Gendarme Lord is supposed to visit Soissons and give a more detailed report every once in a while, Caras has been set at 5 years for the last sixty years ("It was twenty years at first..." he says mournfully, clearly longing for those days), he's predominately supposed to report on any actual assigned tasks (In his case, mostly the Commoner/Burner Worm threat) but is also supposed to generally provide census data, assessments of how his citizenry view him and view the Council, and a bunch of other stuff he assures you will be in Virmire's notes so don't worry if you forget any of the things he's explaining right now.
When Virmire comes back with his notes loaded in a nice little closable box, Ixtriss hisses out, "Finally," and as soon as you have a firm grip on the box Yvette grabs you ("Eeep!" you squeak out) and makes a tremendous leap right atop Ixtriss' back, where a saddle-like area turns out to be, including with belts in place to hold a rider on, enough for 3 people. Yvette then grabs the box from you and sticks it into a part of Ixtriss' shell shaped quite conveniently for exactly such storage, and calls out, "Alright, get that gate open, you're running way too late as-is."
And without a chance to really sit down and think, you're underway to the capitol.
Ixtriss turns out to fly terrifyingly swiftly. Maybe an hour after setting out, you're pretty sure she's left the entirety of Freewheeling Raptors' territory behind her, which means you're further from home than you've ever been, even further than when you went after Neustadt de Glauubens. It's an odd feeling, particularly how swiftly it's happening.
That first hour was quiet, but at some point Yvette started talking. (Well... more shouting, to be heard over the wind) "His wife, huh? I'd forgotten that phrase wasn't always euphemistic."
"I beg your pardon?" you shout back.
"Oh, y'know," she says unhelpfully. "Most Integrated are women, most Gendarmerie sound masculine, it kind of makes sense to say it like that?" Most Integrated are women? "But usually you're just a face for the regular folk to not be scared of, or a daylight enforcer, or awkwardly a bit of both. I'm just one of fifty 'wives' for Premièreombre Zamvek, and I'd say most of us aren't even close enough to qualify as friends..." She sounds a bit wistful as she says that last part.
You turn your nose up again. "Well, I'm quite happy with my marriage."
"Do I want to know what this 'marriage' garbage is?" Ixtriss asks with disdain.
"Probably not," Yvette responds mildly, before refocusing on you. "I'm a bit surprised you're going with the mild look." What? "Sounded like you just went on a raid of some kind, I'd think you'd want to be better-prepared..."
"What??" you say, then realize that could be misunderstood as not having heard her. "No, sorry, what are you talking about?"
Yvette actually turns in her seat to look at you with her ten eyes. Then she winces. "Ooooh, riiiight, the boonies..." The what? "Okay, I dunno if your Baron-"
"Husband," you primly correct.
Yvette rolls her eyes, but obligingly goes along. "-your husband screwed you on the info or if he didn't get told, but Integration can go farther." She raps a knuckle on the breastplate carapace thing she has. "Details depend on the kinds of Cores your Heart has got, and I'm not really up on Carapace's suite of stuff, so I can't give specific advice, but if you're gonna fight, I'd really recommend more." She sighs loudly. "Definitely at least get the sleep removed."
Do what. "Remove-?"
Yvette nods like this is not a big deal. "Oh yeah, best part of Integration. Just rip bedtime out of your life." She pauses here. "If someone tells you it makes people crazy, ignore them. That's just jealousy."
"I... see," you say with ambivalence.
"Oh yeah, your boy has that armor stuff, right? Heavier than I prefer, but making yourself less squishy is always a good decision." She raps her breastplate thing again. "Better alive to regret your other decisions than dead, ha!" She's grinning, and you notice her teeth look... odd in a way you're not sure how to describe.
"I... thank you for the information?" you say uncertainly, unsure if this is a thing you want to pursue.
Yvette sighs, then turns back to looking forward. "Just think about it. We still got three days before Soissons, you'll have plenty of time to read your notes and all."
And over the remainder of the trip, you did think about the topic.
[]The longer you were around Yvette, the more you appreciated how useful this seemed. She was strong! Tough! Could sort of fly! Didn't need to sleep! Had better Breed communication! (Well, so she claimed) Surely this was a good idea worth imitating!
[]You decided to approach this topic cautiously when you returned home. Yvette made it sound wonderful, but over the coming days she made allusions to how it could go wrong. She always laughed it off as 'no biggie' that she knew people didn't always come out perfectly, but she was quick to assure you it 'basically never' happened unless the Gendarme running it 'was an idiot'.
[]You decided you'd like some of the more discreet parts, if possible. Certainly at least the sleep removal thing, so you could maximize time with Caras... but you felt it would be foolish to pursue this too much further when you got home. Neustadt had shown you how hostile people could be over the small differences you had right now: how might much worse might things be if you looked at a glance more like a Breed yourself?
[]At least for the moment, you doubted you'd pursue this topic when you returned home. Certainly, you'd talk it over with Caras and Virmire, see what they knew, but you had misgivings about how beneficial this would truly be.
(Again: please don't do a write-in. I might accept one if I feel it really does hit an obvious scenario I should've thought of myself, but more likely I'll just ignore it.
Also: whoo! Updated today after all! Got to Season 3, finally! Excitement! For me. I dunno about you guys)
So, nearly complete mission success
Getting Tanja out of there feels like the biggest emotional win. I don't know what to tell her though. I'm feeling that focusing on the priests's lies will ring truest and still be the least deceitful.
As for Sabrina getting upgraded, I'm thinking maybe just a lack of sleep. Sabrina needs to be a diplomat, not a fighter. Better armor, mobility, and other such combat relevant stuff diminishes her ability to work with people that fear the gendermain.
Lastly, Ixtriss seems quite willing to bully but not to actually break the rules. As soon as Caras demanded the repercussions of his marriage with Sabrina be recognized, Ixtriss just flat gave up. That might be misleading for the gendermain as a whole, but also something useful to keep in mind as a possibility.
Ooh. Happy that the update came out so fast! Hmm... I feel concerned about leaving our humans behind and not seeing them properly settled in before being whisked off, but oh well. Hopefully Virmire can handle it while we're gone.
Regarding our voting options... I think this is the most honest answer. Bearing in mind that although Tanja is the one asking, the others can probably overhear our answer.
[x]"I didn't really know what was going on in Neustadt. If I'd known more, I might have handled the situation differently." You'd really thought Neustadt as a whole was more involved and aware of the horrors be perpetuated.
We went there expecting to put the whole city to fire and sword. If we'd known more, we would almost certainly have focused more on a defamation campaign/assassination of high priests. We pivoted to defamation campaign in the end once we realised the true situation.
As for the alteration vote... I'm leaning towards one of these.
[x]You decided to approach this topic cautiously when you returned home. Yvette made it sound wonderful, but over the coming days she made allusions to how it could go wrong. She always laughed it off as 'no biggie' that she knew people didn't always come out perfectly, but she was quick to assure you it 'basically never' happened unless the Gendarme running it 'was an idiot'.
[]You decided you'd like some of the more discreet parts, if possible. Certainly at least the sleep removal thing, so you could maximize time with Caras... but you felt it would be foolish to pursue this too much further when you got home. Neustadt had shown you how hostile people could be over the small differences you had right now: how might worse might things be if you looked at a glance more like a Breed yourself?
I want the lack of sleep, but I do think we should talk to Caras and Virmire about this regarding side effects, so we can understand what we're risking in a worst case scenario. Sadly, Caras is indeed an idiot when it comes to humans, and we don't understand enough about Gendarme stuff to know if Caras is an idiot there too.
[X]"An entire village in the Freelands died, and it was Neustadt's fault." 'An eye for an eye' isn't how you'd been thinking of this, but it's not exactly wrong, is it?
Yeesh this is my take but man hard to think with a girl giving me that stare. Tanja you're cool but also yikes I'm gonna need a teddy or something tonight!
[]You decided to approach this topic cautiously when you returned home. Yvette made it sound wonderful, but over the coming days she made allusions to how it could go wrong. She always laughed it off as 'no biggie' that she knew people didn't always come out perfectly, but she was quick to assure you it 'basically never' happened unless the Gendarme running it 'was an idiot'.
Nothing more excited then this because quite frankly…
Caras is more willfully ignorant then an idiot but I'm not convinced that's not one and the same here!
"It's okay, honey. So... I'm really ignorant on the Council. What even is it?"
"The highest-ranked nobles all live in Soissons." He remarks absentmindedly. "The... thirteen?... hm. I think the number might actually vary. Whatever, the oldest of them are the Council, and they are in overall charge of the Freelands. I've never met them personally, truth be told, and probably never will. Soissons is quite far from my grounds, and they rarely travel."
"I'd meant to bring up, actually, that we really need to properly prepare me for battle, dear."
He seems thrown by non-sequitur. "Eh?"
"Well, we certainly don't want me armed with a knife and armored with a dress when soldiers with swords, shields, and real armor are our opposition. And I'm not trained. We really should get me trained by someone who knows what they're doing, if we can."
"I... don't think there is anyone? Well, not local. Soissons has human warriors
So, not much, but if we have time, we might pick up some training for Sabrina while we're in Soissons. Make her a tiny bit more combat capable without having to deal with Integration alterations making us look less human.
[X]"I didn't really know what was going on in Neustadt. If I'd known more, I might have handled the situation differently." You'd really thought Neustadt as a whole was more involved and aware of the horrors be perpetuated.
[X]You decided to approach this topic cautiously when you returned home. Yvette made it sound wonderful, but over the coming days she made allusions to how it could go wrong. She always laughed it off as 'no biggie' that she knew people didn't always come out perfectly, but she was quick to assure you it 'basically never' happened unless the Gendarme running it 'was an idiot'.
[X]"An entire village in the Freelands died, and it was Neustadt's fault." 'An eye for an eye' isn't how you'd been thinking of this, but it's not exactly wrong, is it?
[X]You decided to approach this topic cautiously when you returned home. Yvette made it sound wonderful, but over the coming days she made allusions to how it could go wrong. She always laughed it off as 'no biggie' that she knew people didn't always come out perfectly, but she was quick to assure you it 'basically never' happened unless the Gendarme running it 'was an idiot'.
I just considered that Tanja is likely an expy of Tanya, from that manga that I've not read but I've read some fanfic with that setting as a crossover.
Ergo, the correct action is for Sabrina to apply hugs until emotional healing occurs.
[X]"I didn't really know what was going on in Neustadt. If I'd known more, I might have handled the situation differently." You'd really thought Neustadt as a whole was more involved and aware of the horrors be perpetuated.
[X]You decided to approach this topic cautiously when you returned home. Yvette made it sound wonderful, but over the coming days she made allusions to how it could go wrong. She always laughed it off as 'no biggie' that she knew people didn't always come out perfectly, but she was quick to assure you it 'basically never' happened unless the Gendarme running it 'was an idiot'.
[X] "I didn't really know what was going on in Neustadt. If I'd known more, I might have handled the situation differently." You'd really thought Neustadt as a whole was more involved and aware of the horrors be perpetuated.
[X]You decided you'd like some of the more discreet parts, if possible. Certainly at least the sleep removal thing, so you could maximize time with Caras... but you felt it would be foolish to pursue this too much further when you got home. Neustadt had shown you how hostile people could be over the small differences you had right now: how might worse might things be if you looked at a glance more like a Breed yourself?
[X]"I didn't really know what was going on in Neustadt. If I'd known more, I might have handled the situation differently." You'd really thought Neustadt as a whole was more involved and aware of the horrors be perpetuated.
[X]You decided to approach this topic cautiously when you returned home. Yvette made it sound wonderful, but over the coming days she made allusions to how it could go wrong. She always laughed it off as 'no biggie' that she knew people didn't always come out perfectly, but she was quick to assure you it 'basically never' happened unless the Gendarme running it 'was an idiot'.
[X]"I didn't really know what was going on in Neustadt. If I'd known more, I might have handled the situation differently." You'd really thought Neustadt as a whole was more involved and aware of the horrors be perpetuated.
[X]You decided you'd like some of the more discreet parts, if possible. Certainly at least the sleep removal thing, so you could maximize time with Caras... but you felt it would be foolish to pursue this too much further when you got home. Neustadt had shown you how hostile people could be over the small differences you had right now: how might worse might things be if you looked at a glance more like a Breed yourself?
[X]You decided you'd like some of the more discreet parts, if possible. Certainly at least the sleep removal thing, so you could maximize time with Caras... but you felt it would be foolish to pursue this too much further when you got home. Neustadt had shown you how hostile people could be over the small differences you had right now: how might worse might things be if you looked at a glance more like a Breed yourself?
