Envoys and Negotiations

[baronbalaz]

Who: The Baron and Uther
What: The monster problem
When: Post "Gaest" by about a week
Where: The castle, where else!
Rating: Classy
Status: Incomplete

Comments

[pendraeg]

Two very different-looking heads rose as one, going from idle contentment to alertness in an instant. The growls were warnings, more than fear, and though Uther checked his sword as he stood, he was relaxed as he approached the door. Demons were not known to knock...

Someone tall and angular stood on his threshold, rather pale and hollow-cheeked. A striking figure, dressed in some finery. Behind him on the path, there was a carriage, a sumptuous, showy thing.

Uther automatically drew himself up, a lifetime of being a prince hardly obscured by the influence of his more casual friend. Through a thousand unspoken signs, he knew when he addressed a peer, and he held himself formally as a sign of recognition, and respect.

"Good evening," he said. "May I ask who I address?"

Rank and name first. Purpose, anything else--while important, in some ways, secondary.

[baronbalaz]

For the briefest blink of a moment Byron was distracted by the giant lizard resting on taunt haunches some feet away. There was something familiar about the make of it. He'd seen similiar guard creatures in the houses of other Nobles as a child back when he was still allowed to go on such journeys.

'What in the name of the Noble Ancestor are you doing here?' He thought, before sweeping into a deep, elegant bow, cape swaying dramatically with the rest of his tall frame

[pendraeg]

Uther noted Lord Balaz's interest in Old Lace, and wondered if it was more than the understandable astonishment usually encountered by Chase's familiar.

He had invited the baron into his home, feeling secure with this show of force behind him, and pleased by Lord Balaz's courtesy. Too, Uther wished to know what he had to say about this monster problem. He had no wish to repeat the experience of the other night.

Community organized neighborhood defense collation? Uther knew the words but couldn't entirely bring to mind exactly what it was that they meant, strung together.

[baronbalaz]

"Before I begin, I understand the castle has and maintains it's own sovereignty here-- there is no obligation for you to aid the Watch in it's activities. However, it is becoming distressingly clear that whatever is allowing these creatures to enter the town will not simply pass as many other things have

[pendraeg]

Uther exhaled in what was almost a laugh, uncertain where to begin. Yes?

"Dragons, wraiths, sidhe; winged, ghoulish, and supernatural creatures of all sorts... I suppose some to be more inclined to behave monstrously than others, but I am no expert on the lore of magical creatures."

He wondered if the thing that had tormented them had been from some other world, one of the monsters Lord Balaz had described, or if it had come from one of their own.

"Chase?"

[chaseandoldlace]

His first instinct was to say that the worst monsters in his world were people: the ones that let fear and prejudice dictate their every thought, and that they were more dangerous than anything supernatural. "Well there's this one guy made out of bees that I'd be on the lookout for, he'd be hard to miss, just listen for the buzzing, there's a lot of demons bumming around where I come from, uh... ancient evil gods? Lot a good ones too, but the older pantheons were pretty fuckin pessimistic."

"You mean, mortals who fashion themselves gods with their powers?" Byron ventured.

"No, I mean gods, you know, Thor, Loki, Siv, Freya, Odin, Gaia, Mother Goddess of the Earth? Bunch a really weird ones too, think they're supposed to be from space or somethin'," Chase waved a hand dismissively. "Can't really think of why they'd find this little pocket of the universe interesting but you never know-- oh we got a bunch of your normal magical stuff too, lot of overlap with Uther, really, Aside from the, ah. nosferatu, there's werewolves, shape

[pendraeg]

Something relaxed in Uther that he hadn't consciously been holding taut; or, rather, that he hadn't realised had been discomforting him to hold taut.

He had grown accustomed to the easy, slouched life he led in Aternaville, demons and dangers notwithstanding.

"All right," he said, turning to Chase, hands on hips. "I must ask. What is a vampire?"

[chaseandoldlace]

"Well you know..." Chase shrugged off the more literal and unpleasant memory for another time, "that tv show with the puppets the twins watch? There's a character that teaches numbers, The Count? That's supposed to be a vampire." He laughed, "The kid-safe version anyway."

"The real kind are less, uh, educationally-minded and a little more...creepy." He flopped into a seat by the fire. "They drink blood to survive and if you're bitten by one you become one-- only things that kill them are sunlight or a stake through the heart. And uh, don't ask my why someone thought that'd translate to 'cute character to entertain children with.' Guess they don't actually exist most places other than stories though, so, uh, there you go? Vampires 101?" No matter how used to it he got though Klara or Uther explaining certain things from his time never failed to leave a strange taste in his mouth... Mostly because there was always that lingering absurdity of things that were (and he should know) true terrors that were re-packaged and repurposed in the