crystal

[bouchonne]

FORM: Sending crystal
SENDER: Byerly
RECIPIENT: Everyone
NOTES: None

[ The tone here is quite amused, even if the topic is not particularly...amusing. ]

So, now that we've all woken up, I'm sure there's just one question on everyone's mind. What are we going to do with all you naughty little boys and girls who are dreaming about joining the Venatori?

Comments

[bouchonne]

[ A laugh in response to that. ]

And leave our dear underlings with the impression that we're silently conferring amongst ourselves on the best course of action? An impression of unconcern - carelessness, if you insist - will assuage fears.

[hassaran]

[ Yseult rises as soon as she's sat to collect and, at Flint's tone, adds a measure of liquor as well. ]

We can have a quiet word with any who have serious concerns. As not a soul was the worried about Artemaeus committing actual treachery, I can't imagine there will be so many clamoring at our door. I don't appreciate the unilateral action, but where we are now does not seem unmanageable.

[katabasis]

[Oh, so now unilateral decision making is merely 'not appreciated.']

The difference is that Artemaeus is a moron so morally flexible that he's well acquainted with seeing his own ass. And that apparently the entire world knows it.

Which names are on your list?

[bouchonne]

I believe - [ By's voice is quite mild - ] That questions of morale and loyalty have, historically, fallen under the purview of the Diplomacy division. But if you two would like to take a more active role in party-planning henceforth, I shall make a note of it.

[ Then - ]

The much-beloved Leander dreamed himself becoming an abomination. So that's cute.

[hassaran]

[ Sharper: ] This is not a question of morale. And loyalty is plainly a matter for us all. [ That she doesn't think where they've ended up is disastrous doesn't mean he hasn't overstepped getting there, and coffee only forgives so much. ]

I imagine mages must dream of such things often. I'm more concerned with his Venatori allegiance. Edgard is another, and several other mages, as well. The Rifter scientists were at least taken against their will, but they might have cooperated less.

[katabasis]

Southern mages, Orlesian freemen. The Exalted March is setting a precedent for desertion already. I'm not surprised that the thought might be lurking in the back of a few Rifters' heads as well, given the lack of alternatives available to them.

[bouchonne]

[ It's at the tip of By's tongue to say that Flint seems quite sympathetic to the impulse - but that had been the one conversation they'd had where there'd been any sympathy, where they'd discussed that question. And so he bites it back. ]

I was rather impressed by the performance of a few of them, though. Some had rather more backbone than you'd expect. Artemaeus among them. The boy withstood quite a bit of torment.

[hassaran]

Did he? I'd heard he was with his family.

[bouchonne]

Taken there after he was betrayed. And once there, he withstood imprisonment and torture by his own mother; then, once he was rescued, he began hunting down Venatori associates.

[ A wry little shrug as he toasts Yseult with his coffee. ]

My dear assistant is still an odious little creature, no doubt, but he's come rather a long way in the past few months.

[hassaran]

That's something. [ The tip of her head says but not much. ]

We should compile a full list, with as much detail about circumstances as possible. There's little we can do given the numbers and the nature, but we should know who needs a closer watch.

[katabasis]

And what then?

[bouchonne]

[ A little sigh. ]

And then we watch them, Captain. I hope you're not thinking to clap them in irons.

[katabasis]

[Shorter tempered - which is a miracle; who knew there was much left to trim?:]

Your assistant could have dreamed up a crown to sit on his head. Why does it seem like I'm the only one who wouldn't plan on treating him like a prince?

[hassaran]

[ Byerly will see her head tilt, brows drawn in quizzically. ]

Are you angry that their dreamed treachery isn't being taken seriously, or that it's being considered at all?

[bouchonne]

[ By gives a little tilt of his head, wondering the same thing. ]

[katabasis]

[Somewhere, a pause. Maybe it's the span of time in which someone might rub their face with their hands. Abruptly—]

Wait.

[Then the connection is severed. How long does it take to cross from the Forces to the Diplomacy office? Not very.]

[hassaran]

[ Yseult is looking at the door when he enters, legs crossed at the knee and coffee cup held in both hands. She arches a brow. Well? ]

[katabasis]

[Well.

For just a moment as he passes through the door, the stormy set of Flint's attention catches on her - distracted, a line in his expression shifting as if in some way taken aback by an element of her appearance there though he'd known full well to expect her. Then it's folded away, crumpled and set somewhere else as promptly as it rose in the first place. His eye slides to Byerly. The door is pulled firmly shut.]

I trust your wife wasn't too mishandled by all of this.

[bouchonne]

No; she's quite a resilient woman. How about Mr Silver?

[ Byerly is Funny. ]

[hassaran]

[ For once, Yseult agrees. Not that she laughs, of course. But she doesn't give him a look, and instead continues to sip her coffee far too mildly. It's basically the same thing. ]

[katabasis]

[He snorts and produces a folded piece of papers from some pocket as he crosses the room - catching whatever chair is convenient and bringing it along with so he has somewhere to sit when he arrives there.]

I don't give two shits about who killed who or was betrayed or knighted a hero in a dream. What concerns me [is a hell of a word choice but there is something, here in this room, unspecific about his shortened temper—leashed short, some effort made to curb the boiling thing. Maybe the walk had done him good.] Is the effect. And how no crew in the world's mood has ever been improved by their troubles being made so directly light by their leadership. I guarantee you Rowntree isn't laughing.

Lend me a pen, [is for the piece of paper; it's a half written list of names.]

[bouchonne]

[ Dryly: ]

Rowntree also was rather famous during the war for the amount of Templar blood he spilled. And non-Templar blood. I know he's helpful enough to you, Captain Flint, but if he wanted to fuck off, it'd certainly make my job easier.

[ A pen is produced, and handed over. ]

[katabasis]

[The look Byerly receives in exchange is flat, held for a single unimpressed instant, and then reverts to the list where Flint scratches out a few additional lines.]

[hassaran]

You could say the same of half the company, including both of you.

[bouchonne]

I think it's a bit disingenuous to put the two of us in the same category of disreputable, Spymaster.

[ A drunken clown who married well isn't exactly equal to a pirate king. ]

Honestly, of those who "defected," I can think of only perhaps two or three where their desertion would be a net loss. [ Well, that's not really fair, and he realizes that after it's out of his mouth. So he amends: ] If their loyalty is already so tenuous that a bit of ridicule would send them packing.