001.

[filotimo]

FORM: Crystal
SENDER: Madi
RECIPIENT: Everyone
NOTES: Watch your language!! (jk who fuckin cares right)

[ Madi's voice isn't likely to be familiar to everyone, particularly new arrivals, but those who ventured to Nascere before its destruction last Autumn will be able to place the accented voice with the woman attached to Flint and Silver. ]

Good morning. I hope everyone has been able to get some much needed rest after recent events.

[ Sometimes a nap is needed to recover from sleep. ]

I am putting out a call for anyone with contacts in Antiva, or information that might help its people slip the shackles of neutrality, to meet with me and share what they know.

You may respond by crystal or book, but I would prefer to meet face to face.

Comments

[bouchonne]

I hope you're well prepared for Antivan jokes. Meaning jokes about Antivans, not jokes in Antivan.

[lumelume]

[SPEAK FOR YOURSELF]

[filotimo]

Are you about to provide an example, Ambassador?

[bouchonne]

I would never! Could you imagine? That would be so offensive!

- I did hear a good one recently, though.

[filotimo]

I have to wonder how good it could possibly be, if it is as offensive as you suggest.

[lumelume]

Certo!

Where can we find you, Signora?

[filotimo]

The library, presently. I will be the one surrounded by books.

[ Dry. Everyone is surrounded by books when in a library. ]

switching 2 action

[lumelume]

Ah yes, I know the place!

[It's perhaps an hour or so later, after other business has been attended to, when a cheerful man dressed in yellow appears in the library. He looks around, head tilted slightly upward reminiscent of a dog sniffing the air, and then spies his quarry.

He comes toward Madi with one hand extended.]

Hello! I'm Amador!

[filotimo]

[ Madi is indeed surrounded by books, and not only because she is in a library. She has just about all of the available texts about Ativan society, economics, noble familial lines, and so on set about on the table she's seated at, and when Amador approaches she first marks her place in the current tome before standing and shaking his hand. ]

Madi. Shall I assume by your name and accent that you are from Antiva? How recently were you last there?

[unshut]

The shackles of neutrality. What a grim portrait of the thing.

[filotimo]

Do you disagree?

[unshut]

Me? Spirits, no.

But I do wonder whether the great many Antivans who seem to have found coin a fine balm for a cuff's chafe would agree.

[filotimo]

I imagine there are some who would, as even seemingly idyllic places have their dissenters. But whether or not they exist isn't the question, but rather how we might shift the tide of such opinions.

[sohighandwild]

[This may sound glib, but it isn't meant to. At least it sounds Antivan-accented.]

What sort of information would that be, exactly?

[filotimo]

Perhaps points where we might apply pressure, or knowledge of the areas in Antiva most susceptible to gossip. In truth I won't know what is useful until I hear it.

[ Her voice has the quality of one whose attention is partly on the conversation at hand, and partly on the page she's reading. Distracted, but not inattentive. ]

I believe among us, we have the resources needed to sway the general populace to be critical of trade with Tevinter where the noble families are not.

[sohighandwild]

I haven't been back to Antiva for a few years, but I feel safe in saying the general populace wants to be safe and comfortable. If you want to convince anyone that international politics concern them, you need to make a compelling case that staying neutral will interfere with their safety and their comfort. That trading with Tevinter costs more than it's worth. It's a question of economics, not principles.

[filotimo]

I don't believe the two to be mutually exclusive.

Do you expect things have changed considerably since you were last there? Or would your understanding of societal workings still hold true?

[hornswoggle]

Come see me, when you've had your fill of bantering with Antivans.

[filotimo]

Alright. Although I will be in the library, should you grow tired of waiting.

[ There's no telling how many or how few will have insight to offer. ]

[hornswoggle]

And risk interrupting your interviews?

[ a little teasing. ]

[filotimo]

[ She doesn't broadcast her soft laugh, but the smile is audible in her voice. ]

Or risk being enlisted to help.

[exsecutus]

The rich rule Antiva. Those shackles are jeweled bracelets that everyone dreams to wear.

[filotimo]

And if they were to discover that the jewels are made of glass?

[exsecutus]

I like the idea of throwing expensive jewelry on a palace floor. See if a shard could cut the throat of a prince or two.

[filotimo]

Mm. Yes, the merchant princes are an obstacle of their own, [ Like, obviously. ] but let us think outside the palaces for the time being, shall we?