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There are several people of interest that have been pinpointed by the Nightingale, possible Venatori agents, sympathizers, etc. They've requested that I put together a group of people who can...investigate the situation and the people of interest. See if we can uncover any proof of underhanded dealings, or innocence.
I was hoping that you would help me assemble such a task force, one that would be suited to being able to accomplish these endeavors.
--And then lead it, of course.
[ Added slightly belatedly. Just in case Yseult's afraid Beleth is going to ask her to help put the team together and then not put her on it. ]
I was hoping that you would help me assemble such a task force, one that would be suited to being able to accomplish these endeavors.
--And then lead it, of course.
[ Added slightly belatedly. Just in case Yseult's afraid Beleth is going to ask her to help put the team together and then not put her on it. ]
[ Not afraid, precisely. She's far more used to not being in charge of things, after all. But Yseult smiles again at the additional request, that same expression of warmth tempered by reserve. ]
I'd be happy to. Is there anyone you've already identified as a good candidate for this mission?
I'd be happy to. Is there anyone you've already identified as a good candidate for this mission?
Yes.
[ She has a list, of course, which she pulls from her desk, eyes glancing over it as she speaks. ]
Hanzo Shimada, Marisol Vivas, Fifi Mariette, and Colin are all potential agents for this assignment. However, I'm leaving the selection ultimately up to you. If there are others that you think would be better suited, or you don't think my selections are appropriate for the mission, I leave it up to your discretion.
Though I do retain the right to veto anyone that I think would be entirely inappropriate. Like Adasse.
[ ...Anyway. ]
And as this is a series of assignments, you can rotate them out as you see fit. Or don't, if you find a team that works particularly well together.
[ (pirate voice) the choice is up to u ]
[ She has a list, of course, which she pulls from her desk, eyes glancing over it as she speaks. ]
Hanzo Shimada, Marisol Vivas, Fifi Mariette, and Colin are all potential agents for this assignment. However, I'm leaving the selection ultimately up to you. If there are others that you think would be better suited, or you don't think my selections are appropriate for the mission, I leave it up to your discretion.
Though I do retain the right to veto anyone that I think would be entirely inappropriate. Like Adasse.
[ ...Anyway. ]
And as this is a series of assignments, you can rotate them out as you see fit. Or don't, if you find a team that works particularly well together.
[ (pirate voice) the choice is up to u ]
Yseult draws a little notebook and a stub of a pencil from a pocket in her skirt and notes down the names. Not that she needs to, but she finds it tends to set many superiors at ease.
"I've worked with Vivas and Colin. I'm not sure either has the temperament required, but they have shown potential worth exploring. Shimada I've interacted with over crystal only. Is it his Tevinter connection that recommends him to you, or has he some expertise? I'm not familiar with Mariette."
"I've worked with Vivas and Colin. I'm not sure either has the temperament required, but they have shown potential worth exploring. Shimada I've interacted with over crystal only. Is it his Tevinter connection that recommends him to you, or has he some expertise? I'm not familiar with Mariette."
[ Yes good fastidiousness is always a good thing. ]
I've worked a subterfuge assignment with Vivas, she handled herself well enough. Colin may be more challenging, but I believe that he has the capability, if properly motivated—he did help break our agents out of a Venatori prison. Shimada does have the connections, but he's also served with distinction thus far, and I believe that he would be well served by having something important to focus on.
[ AKA distract him from angsting. ]
Mariette doesn’t have much experience in combat, though she held her own on the occasion that I saw her in action. As of late, she's been working as a maid in the estate of the Asgard family. [ There's a meaningfully measured pause. ] Under my request. [ gotta keep up to date on those shady asgards. ]
Overall, I would suggest if you need someone to feign high-born people, I would suggest Vivas and Shimada, while Colin and Mariette would be better suited to posing as commoners.
I've worked a subterfuge assignment with Vivas, she handled herself well enough. Colin may be more challenging, but I believe that he has the capability, if properly motivated—he did help break our agents out of a Venatori prison. Shimada does have the connections, but he's also served with distinction thus far, and I believe that he would be well served by having something important to focus on.
[ AKA distract him from angsting. ]
Mariette doesn’t have much experience in combat, though she held her own on the occasion that I saw her in action. As of late, she's been working as a maid in the estate of the Asgard family. [ There's a meaningfully measured pause. ] Under my request. [ gotta keep up to date on those shady asgards. ]
Overall, I would suggest if you need someone to feign high-born people, I would suggest Vivas and Shimada, while Colin and Mariette would be better suited to posing as commoners.
Colin kept his head well on that mission, my concern is whether he has the stomach to make the decisions that sometimes prove necessary. Vivas is likely capable of taking whatever action is required, but I'm not convinced she'll take the work seriously. Everything seems to be a game, to her, and her wealth means the consequences never touch her. That makes people reckless. But I agree they both have potential. I'll speak with them.
Shimada struck me as somewhat...brittle. He seemed resistant to discussion or instruction, but perhaps that was some failing on my part. This work does require a great deal of flexibility. Do you believe he'd be willing and able?
[ All this as she's making note of what Beleth has relayed, some personal shorthand used to make notations next to each of the names mentioned. It's about Fifi that her brows tick upwards--she is genuinely surprised, but displaying it is a choice. ]
Wise. Is that mission on-going? Some of the work could require regular travel and I will avoid assigning that to her if it would interfere with her work for you.
Shimada struck me as somewhat...brittle. He seemed resistant to discussion or instruction, but perhaps that was some failing on my part. This work does require a great deal of flexibility. Do you believe he'd be willing and able?
[ All this as she's making note of what Beleth has relayed, some personal shorthand used to make notations next to each of the names mentioned. It's about Fifi that her brows tick upwards--she is genuinely surprised, but displaying it is a choice. ]
Wise. Is that mission on-going? Some of the work could require regular travel and I will avoid assigning that to her if it would interfere with her work for you.
Edited (lol sorry i abandoned brackets by accident) 2019-01-21 22:46 (UTC)
[Yseult's room is locked, and Darras respects it. He waits outside instead, listening to the distant sounds of the Gallows at high haunt: a little girl, crying; chains, rattling; a scream, quickly stifled. No spirit comes his way. Not now. Perhaps they can sense that he's had his fill, confronted the worst of his shades.
Not entirely true. Taviano's face swims in his mind, spectral in a way Darras saw him, just once. Before he bled. And wasn't he looking for the bastard, hoping to see him dead. Got what he wanted. He wonders, briefly, if Yseult found him. Saw him again, more like. If he cornered her somewhere, with that ruin of a face that he wore, eventually, if she went off to look, if she's on her way now, but then he hears the soft tread of a foot that he knows is hers, don't ask how he knows it. The way she could walk up behind him in a crowded room, with his back to her, and he could still know it was her.
He's leaned against the wall but he pushes himself up to stand, proper, so he can meet her as she comes up the stair. The stone was cold against his back. The chill of the Gallows isn't much warmer, and worse under the grip of the spirits. This part of the tower is a respite from that, at least for now. There's no blood on the flagstones of the floor. It's all gone away.]
Not entirely true. Taviano's face swims in his mind, spectral in a way Darras saw him, just once. Before he bled. And wasn't he looking for the bastard, hoping to see him dead. Got what he wanted. He wonders, briefly, if Yseult found him. Saw him again, more like. If he cornered her somewhere, with that ruin of a face that he wore, eventually, if she went off to look, if she's on her way now, but then he hears the soft tread of a foot that he knows is hers, don't ask how he knows it. The way she could walk up behind him in a crowded room, with his back to her, and he could still know it was her.
He's leaned against the wall but he pushes himself up to stand, proper, so he can meet her as she comes up the stair. The stone was cold against his back. The chill of the Gallows isn't much warmer, and worse under the grip of the spirits. This part of the tower is a respite from that, at least for now. There's no blood on the flagstones of the floor. It's all gone away.]
Edited 2019-03-01 04:17 (UTC)
[ He doesn't trail in her wake now and nor do any other spirits, drifting away during the long climb up the stairs and leaving Yseult to arrive at the sixth floor blessedly alone. At the first flicker of movement she almost takes Darras for one, but he is too solid and familiar a shape. She smiles in her faint way as she meets him by her door, drawing a key out from a pocket of the bag she carries. ]
Come in, [ she says, as she pushes the door with a forearm. Inside, her room is chilly like she's been gone all day, the fire long guttered out. She sets her bag down on the small table and goes to poke at the dull grey coals. ]
I need to make some notes while my memory is fresh, [ she says ] It shouldn't take long. Will you see to this and make some tea while I do?
Come in, [ she says, as she pushes the door with a forearm. Inside, her room is chilly like she's been gone all day, the fire long guttered out. She sets her bag down on the small table and goes to poke at the dull grey coals. ]
I need to make some notes while my memory is fresh, [ she says ] It shouldn't take long. Will you see to this and make some tea while I do?
[Her smile is more familiar than her step, and manages to banish another measure of cold from him. Darras follows her into the room, and when she asks him to tend to the fire, he's there, too, to reach for the poker so he can start in at the coals.]
Give it here.
[Their fingers brush in the passing. Nothing in the hallways and rooms of the Gallows has seemed alive except her. Darras kneels down beside the little hearth, and the cold seeps in at his knees, but even stirring the grey coals coaxes a little life to them. Soon he's got them ruddy and embered again.]
Meeting went well, then?
Give it here.
[Their fingers brush in the passing. Nothing in the hallways and rooms of the Gallows has seemed alive except her. Darras kneels down beside the little hearth, and the cold seeps in at his knees, but even stirring the grey coals coaxes a little life to them. Soon he's got them ruddy and embered again.]
Meeting went well, then?
Well enough. [ Yseult hands over the poker and crosses to the desk, now arranged beneath the narrow window. She retrieves a notebook from the locked drawer and takes up a pencil, the scratch of it on the page lost beneath stirred coals and crackling flame. ] It was only the first meeting. We'll see how it goes once they begin working. [ She falls silent then, focused on getting the necessary details down, not allowing her memory to be muddied by conversation before it's recorded. He will find tea in a tin on the mantel along with a pot, water in a pitcher on a side table.
But as she promised it doesn't take long, and after a few minutes she winds the string around the notebook again and returns it to its drawer and rejoins Darras just as the teapot begins to whistle. She gathers two cups, pale clay with red painted flowers he turned up with once while she was recovering, and rummages through her bag to bring out a few cloth-wrapped parcels. ]
I stopped by the kitchens on my way, if you're hungry. What have you been doing?
But as she promised it doesn't take long, and after a few minutes she winds the string around the notebook again and returns it to its drawer and rejoins Darras just as the teapot begins to whistle. She gathers two cups, pale clay with red painted flowers he turned up with once while she was recovering, and rummages through her bag to bring out a few cloth-wrapped parcels. ]
I stopped by the kitchens on my way, if you're hungry. What have you been doing?
Edited 2019-03-02 12:58 (UTC)
[They. Darras tries to conjure up an image of these contacts, people Yseult would consider worthy of her time and her attention. He's seen no one among the Inquisition's ranks quite like her, but that's hardly a surprise.
He wraps his hand in a towel and unhooks the pot of boiling water, to bring it over to fill the cups.]
I waited for you.
[Easy enough answer.]
Don't know that I'm hungry. Shouldn't let that stop you.
He wraps his hand in a towel and unhooks the pot of boiling water, to bring it over to fill the cups.]
I waited for you.
[Easy enough answer.]
Don't know that I'm hungry. Shouldn't let that stop you.
[ Her brows draw together briefly, a crease between her eyes at the notion of him just standing there outside her door, waiting, for the entire hour or two she's been gone. But she doesn't say anything, just sets about unwrapping the little parcels: a heel of bread, some cheese, a half-empty jar of preserves. She pauses over the last, almost dramatic, as if to catch his attention before revealing half a loaf of spice cake, studded with bits of apple and cranberry. ]
Are you sure? [ she asks, lifting a brow at him. There's encouragement in it, and a hint of a smile. ] Have you tried it before? It's not quite the same, but the cook here puts a bit of orange in it, like Marta's in the village.
Are you sure? [ she asks, lifting a brow at him. There's encouragement in it, and a hint of a smile. ] Have you tried it before? It's not quite the same, but the cook here puts a bit of orange in it, like Marta's in the village.
[It's not hard for her to catch his attention under any circumstance. When she's being deliberate about it, it's even easier. Darras is looking well before she makes her reveal. Surprise lets the corner of his mouth catch in a little smile, and he drops his eyes to the cups as he pours out.]
You can give me a bite of yours. No butter to be had, I s'ppose.
[Steam blooms up, hot and herbal. Darras' hand is steady, and he carries the pot back to the narrow hearth to let it cool on the stone.]
Marta's is best with butter and only butter, if you absolutely insist on putting anything on it.
You can give me a bite of yours. No butter to be had, I s'ppose.
[Steam blooms up, hot and herbal. Darras' hand is steady, and he carries the pot back to the narrow hearth to let it cool on the stone.]
Marta's is best with butter and only butter, if you absolutely insist on putting anything on it.
Putting anything on Marta's cake is sacrilege. Even butter. [ Yseult's reply is firm and assured in the way of familiar arguments made many times before, and she does not produce any butter from her bag. She can allow only one exception: ] Unless it's stale and toasted. But letting it go stale is also unforgivable, as you know. [ The stern effect is possibly ruined by blowing steam off her tea before taking a careful sip. ]
How's Rosana? Has she settled in with you yet?
How's Rosana? Has she settled in with you yet?
I do know.
[He remembers, is what he really means. It's an old argument. Friendly, familiar territory. With the kettle back in place, he comes around to her again, though he doesn't pick up his cup just yet.]
Rosana-- [And even saying her name makes him smile a little, another point toward the familiar.] --is playing me, I think. She's home only some nights. The ferryman told me he's seen her aboard, riding in to the city without paying her fare. I'm sure she gets up to all manner of trouble in the streets of Kirkwall, and then she comes home again when it suits her. She likes it here.
[He remembers, is what he really means. It's an old argument. Friendly, familiar territory. With the kettle back in place, he comes around to her again, though he doesn't pick up his cup just yet.]
Rosana-- [And even saying her name makes him smile a little, another point toward the familiar.] --is playing me, I think. She's home only some nights. The ferryman told me he's seen her aboard, riding in to the city without paying her fare. I'm sure she gets up to all manner of trouble in the streets of Kirkwall, and then she comes home again when it suits her. She likes it here.
Good. [ She smiles, warm. ] I thought I saw her in the corridor the other night, but she vanished into the shadows and I couldn't be sure.
[ She pauses, thumb worrying along the curve of the tea cup's handle. ] Perhaps she'll stop by to visit sometime. [ She flicks him a quick little smile, less assured, and then turns to set about slicing the bread. Outside, the wind gusts, drawing her eyes across to the window as icy sleet is whipped against it with particular ferocity. ]
I hope she's not outside wandering tonight.
[ She pauses, thumb worrying along the curve of the tea cup's handle. ] Perhaps she'll stop by to visit sometime. [ She flicks him a quick little smile, less assured, and then turns to set about slicing the bread. Outside, the wind gusts, drawing her eyes across to the window as icy sleet is whipped against it with particular ferocity. ]
I hope she's not outside wandering tonight.
She's got sense enough. I'm sure she's hidden herself away somewhere safe.
[It's a guess he'd be willing to put some coin behind, if he had to. Rosana is a survivor. There's stories that he could tell Yseult about her--the day Rosana found him, the time she fell off the quay and swam herself to shore, the storm outside of Rialto Bay that almost crippled the Fancy but Rosana was out in the leeward side of the bulwark, washing her paws.
Instead, what Darras says is,] I saw Taviano.
[The tea would be better if there was a tot of something stronger in it. For this bit, at least. The room is small enough that the fire is already a warmth. Taviano puts a chill into it, a trickle of icewater.]
[It's a guess he'd be willing to put some coin behind, if he had to. Rosana is a survivor. There's stories that he could tell Yseult about her--the day Rosana found him, the time she fell off the quay and swam herself to shore, the storm outside of Rialto Bay that almost crippled the Fancy but Rosana was out in the leeward side of the bulwark, washing her paws.
Instead, what Darras says is,] I saw Taviano.
[The tea would be better if there was a tot of something stronger in it. For this bit, at least. The room is small enough that the fire is already a warmth. Taviano puts a chill into it, a trickle of icewater.]
[ It's like a sudden draft up the back of her neck, but then a prickling of anger follows in its wake. Despite everything, she's making a real effort to be what he needs right now and give them a normal night and he has to go and bring this up. ]
You saw a spirit who took Taviano's form to make you angry [ she corrects, setting her teacup down very deliberately. ] The man has been dead more than half a year.
You saw a spirit who took Taviano's form to make you angry [ she corrects, setting her teacup down very deliberately. ] The man has been dead more than half a year.
[He huffs, a dull sort of laugh.]
I know he's been dead. I heard it from rumors, first, and now I've see it. So, all right. If you like. I saw a spirit who took Taviano's form to make me angry. [The warmth of the tea is palpable through the porcelain of the cup, when Darras picks it up. He considers the contents before he takes a sip.] It didn't, though. Make me angry. It was too-- final, for that.
I know he's been dead. I heard it from rumors, first, and now I've see it. So, all right. If you like. I saw a spirit who took Taviano's form to make me angry. [The warmth of the tea is palpable through the porcelain of the cup, when Darras picks it up. He considers the contents before he takes a sip.] It didn't, though. Make me angry. It was too-- final, for that.
[ He heard it from her, too, but it's not lack of credit that has Yseult bristling. Nothing good ever comes of this topic, even if his supposed lack of anger is a positive sort of surprise.
She retrieves the knife and spreads jam on a slice of bread with more precision than is strictly necessary. ]
And so?
She retrieves the knife and spreads jam on a slice of bread with more precision than is strictly necessary. ]
And so?
So it's done.
[The cup feels too fragile in his hand, and Darras sets it down on the table. His hand now free, he scratches his fingers through his hair, pushing it back from his face. It's one of his tells: tired, unsure, shocked through by a measure of stress.
After a moment, he finds the words.]
You've told me things, before. When you were in tight spots and you got yourself free, by trickery or luck or hard work, however--at risk to yourself. Nearly died doing it, sometimes. And I always wanted to be there. Like I could go back in time, somehow, and find you in some--bloody dungeon or cellar or back room, and put myself there beside you. Not 'cos you needed me. I know you don't. Not really. I wanted to be there for you, just--for you.
[The cup feels too fragile in his hand, and Darras sets it down on the table. His hand now free, he scratches his fingers through his hair, pushing it back from his face. It's one of his tells: tired, unsure, shocked through by a measure of stress.
After a moment, he finds the words.]
You've told me things, before. When you were in tight spots and you got yourself free, by trickery or luck or hard work, however--at risk to yourself. Nearly died doing it, sometimes. And I always wanted to be there. Like I could go back in time, somehow, and find you in some--bloody dungeon or cellar or back room, and put myself there beside you. Not 'cos you needed me. I know you don't. Not really. I wanted to be there for you, just--for you.
[He meets her eyes, his mouth pulled into a slight frown.]
'Course I do. That's not the way I meant it. Just-- I don't know. I don't know how to say it, exactly, it's like--
[Sitting seems too fixed in the moment, so all at once, Darras stands and paces away toward the fireplace, scratching his fingers through his hair again.]
What d'you think it is, when you're married to someone. They say the words, and it's like--it was two people, and then they're one person. Everything is shared. Good parts, bad parts, all of it. That's how I thought of it, at least. Not that my sins carry over to you, or yours over to me, or anything, just-- If you've done it. If you killed him. Then it's done.
'Course I do. That's not the way I meant it. Just-- I don't know. I don't know how to say it, exactly, it's like--
[Sitting seems too fixed in the moment, so all at once, Darras stands and paces away toward the fireplace, scratching his fingers through his hair again.]
What d'you think it is, when you're married to someone. They say the words, and it's like--it was two people, and then they're one person. Everything is shared. Good parts, bad parts, all of it. That's how I thought of it, at least. Not that my sins carry over to you, or yours over to me, or anything, just-- If you've done it. If you killed him. Then it's done.
You wanted to kill him, but now that you've watched him die at my hand that's revenge enough. [ she paraphrases, only the slightest lift of her brows turning it into a question, checking that she's right. ]
All right. [ That's fine. Good, even. Something in what he says still pricks at her, and she sits with it for a minute before she lets it go and nods again. ] Then it's done.
All right. [ That's fine. Good, even. Something in what he says still pricks at her, and she sits with it for a minute before she lets it go and nods again. ] Then it's done.
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