Mysteries of the Floating Islands

[Florien]

Fifteen minutes. Got it. By the way, while we wait, do you have a clip and a board about the size of a sheet of paper? Oh, and some glue? I want to make a clipboard. For inspection purposes. And can you get me a pen of some kind? Fountain is preferable, but I can make do with quill, as long as you remembered to cut the feather part off the shaft and get me an ink pot. And any extra paper or parchment you've got lying around, you must have some in your treasury for accounting with. I only need a few sheets.

...Or a pencil I suppose, writing implement-wise. Or even a wax tablet and stylus if we're going to be super archaic about it. I've made do with worse on inspections. And do you have... okay you probably don't, but who do I talk to to get a reflective vest and kettle hat? I'll settle for a less-brimmed helmet, and don't strictly need a reflective vest, but a kettle hat is optimal. Neck protection from falling bits, you see.

Avanyiss tries to

>Persuade the guards to help her find all the appropriate gear to look sufficiently building-inspector like.

[SmilyCube112]

Magnus turns to go back, only to see the guards have noticed his disappearance. His only way out of this problem?

> Sneak back to Avanyiss and Briar while trying not to alert the guards.

[Florien]

Avanyiss continues talking to the guard.

Optimally, I'll make this place both more secure from attack and safer for all of you security forces to walk around without, for example, slipping on a puddle and breaking your arm. Nasty stuff I've seen. Bones sticking through skin, blood everywhere. Fatal head injuries from falling down stairs, and I assume you have manufacturing facilities on site, considering you have weapons and armor and tailored goods, so all I'll need to hook you up with is resources, yes?

Anyway, ideally, I'll get a full tour after your leader approves me, maybe I can consult with your division heads, the general, all other large deals? Anyway, I can get this place built up like Helsgrant. Ah, sorry, you wouldn't have context for that simile. Ahh... it's a very impressive fortress. Back home. Only been fallen once in over a thousand years of continuous operation. The point is, help me out with that stuff, and we can get this done to very high standards. We'll have great worker conditions too, might even be able to optimize the construction, get you a nice rec room and some games for it, both board and card, not just dice, if you help me play my metaphorical cards correct, yes?

[GoldenCityBird]

@SmilyCube112: You roll a 2 on your stealth roll, +1 for your usual plus, and +1 because the 25% chance on your outfit fired off, bringing it up to a 4.

You re-arrived at Avanyiss's side, without anyone noticing.

@Florien: You roll a 3

"You know what? Sure, I'll go look. Briar, Laura, keep an eye on them. Zebedee, stay here."

One of the guards leaves, unreplaced for now.

[SmilyCube112]

Magnus leans close to Briar and quietly tells him what he had found.

[Florien]

Riiight.

Maybe we should wait the fifteen minutes. There's no real reason to get in now rather than then, and I've got a uniform and clipboard of some persuasion incoming.

[GoldenCityBird]

Fifteen long minutes pass, before a well-dressed Draconian descends the stairs. "The Queen is now ready for her next visitors."

The other dragon guard returns. "I think I managed to figure out how this "clip-board" thing works." He hands Avanyiss a crude clipboard with a sheet of paper and a stick of charcoal upon it.

Briar looks up the stairs. "Now that everything's settled, let's go."

Briar and their companion head up, but the royal guards look at Magnus and Avanyiss. "Any weapons, spellcasting implements, or other items of note you'd like to declare?"

[SmilyCube112]

"Just a silver dagger. Nothing else." Magnus says in response.

[Florien]

I can cast spells, but don't have any particular implements for that. As for weapons, I've got... probably nothing that's meant to be used as one. Nothing else on me at this time that's worth mentioning that I can think of immediately, though I can't think why you'd care about anything beyond weapons.

Thanks for the clipboard.

[GoldenCityBird]

The guards take Magnus's dagger, one of them pocketing it, before letting the two of them upstairs.

The throne room is, for many, impressive. A high-vaulted ceiling, walls covered in carvings and candles, most of it seemingly hewn from the rock itself. Dozens of Draconians stand around, some of them murmuring among themselves, but all of them standing clear of the Dragon Queen, Burnetta.

Burnetta's fierce, red-scaled presence dominates the room. A silver crown, unbejewelled, sits upon her head, and a glass goblet full of something red rests in her left claw.

"More visitors?" She sighs, gentle sparks emenating from her maw. "I sincerely thought that Tutankhanpu would be the last one. Oh, well. State your names and intentions."

[Florien]

Avanyiss inhales, focuses, holds her clipboard in the most official looking way she can...

Avanyiss. Avanye without, Evireiter by line, Female. I'm here to get full approval as your security inspector and an advisor on a temporary basis. Possibly as an agent while I'm here, we'll see about that part. Your guards outside and at the gate let me in after hearing my pitch and of my skills.

Essentially, I'm able to advise you on how best to present yourself to establish more control over this region, and to help shore up your sturdy but unfortunately marred by security holes fortress to be less susceptible to attack. I also have some options for you to be able to secure line-of-succession against all eventualities, so as to reduce plotting against you for your position specifically.

Also, once you've approved that, which is really most likely a formality at this point... well, I'd like to know what you know about the airship crash business over there, yes? And then we can talk about all the plotting and scheming I hear that's going on against you, talk about your positions on whatever matters of the day there are, maybe see how we can best word your positions.

[SmilyCube112]

Magnus, once Avanyiss is finished talking, says "

MagnusMang-noos

Ingvar. I'm here as security counsel as well, but I'm just her assistant." He then gestures to Avanyiss.

[GoldenCityBird]

Queen Burnetta nods. "I see, I see... well, I suppose the fort could use some additional defences, and–" she stops mid-sentence, spilling a single drop from her goblet. "Hang on a minute. This is about all those rumours, isn't it? The alleged future duels and all that. Well, I don't fear for my life just yet.

"As for the airship crash," she continues, "I must admit, I haven't a clue. If you could find any evidence of foul play, it'd be appreciated, but..." she buries her head in her claws, setting her goblet aside. "There's also all those plots you say are happening. Everyone tells me about it, yet nobody can prove it. Continue the line of questioning when you can find evidence - witnesses, items of interest, that sort of thing."

She straightens herself out. "If there are any other matters you'd like to speak of, go ahead."

[SmilyCube112]

Magnus speaks up, saying "Well, Ms.Evireiter has decided to conduct her own investigation into the airship crash, bringing me along to help, and we've discovered quite a good few details that does imply some sort of foul play did happen aboard the ship. She discovered that an engineer went missing the same day the crash occurred, and we had found that the crew manifest for the same ship had lacked some of the required information relating to one of the engineers, a individual named Yuxian. I'll admit it was a bit of a stretch, considering that the only detail linking the two was that both were noted to be from Cheng'en, but it's still a lead."

[GoldenCityBird]

"Interesting," Burnetta says. "If you could track this person down (or find their corpse), that might help clarify a few things. Anything else you'd like to add?"

[Florien]

Uh yes, also one of the survivors claimed to be an engineer but was actually a security guy on some vague disciplinary duty thing, and none of the other survivors objected. So there's implications there. 

Oh, next question, do you have any helmets I can have? For inspection purposes in case the roof caves in while I'm looking at things? And do you know what the deal with the presumably human king is?

[GoldenCityBird]

"Helmets may be in surplus, but that's not really something I keep an eye on. General Bonnam might know. And as for King Ed..."

Burnetta looks away. "There used to be Draconians in the Kingdom of Rashbold. Now they're under it."

[Florien]

Ah. I see. Well. Assuming I don't turn you into a folk hero and leader of a popular revolution that leaves the king hanging by the neck from the nearest tall thing, ahhh... "discriminatory hiring practices" are certainly enough to justify murder, if taking the title of king wasn't already.

Moving on, what are your policy positions if you ever get in? Do you have any particular things you'd like done? And do you have an established line of succession or succession procedure?

[GoldenCityBird]

Burnetta mulls over Avanyiss's questions for a few seconds. "Hmm... you seem to think I want to take over Rashbold and become its monarch. Rest assured, that almost certainly won't be the case." She chuckles. "That's all I can say, really."

[Florien]

You wield the name of a monarch yourself, even if it is the name you were provided, it is a name you choose every day you get up. But that is not my immediate concern. I am really more interested in your policy goals once you've installed whatever government you wish to install. What ultimately, differentiates you from the current plutoaristocratic government? I've seen Irekhin overthrow a government to replace it with much the same, so I know that your policy ideas aren't completely irrelevant, whether or not you intend to rule as a non-hereditary dictator, an electoral dictator, an elected termed position, do one of those weird parliament things, set up some entirely different and strange system, or Veltirississ forbid... ahhh... quite literally now based on Stutlyn-Mirahz of Xhin v. Adavar Kyrareiter, a monarch. or whether you intend to install someone else in such a position and which one of those positions.

To be clear, this isn't oppositional. The king claimed hereditary, and as far as I know, you have thus far not. I merely want to know if there's any policies that I could communicate or spin, should I take that part of the elevating your fight against the current king up. And can I have some kind of badge of your approval? For the inspector thing? To stick on my uniform to let people know that I'm very official?

[GoldenCityBird]

Burnetta looks around. "By the Great Farmer's Almighty Scythe, you sure do talk too much for your own good. But... hmm... all that stuff's still in the works. Early days and all that. But enough talk of the revolution, you're here to keep me safe. I'll let you two work around here until I need to let you go."

[Florien]

Ah. I see.

Very well. No further questions.

I'll get to building inspecting now, dealing with potential threats, all that.

>Head to the barracks and track down some kind of wide brimmed helmet.

[SmilyCube112]

Magnus had just been standing and listening the entire time, but upon Avanyiss leaving, he promptly follows her to assist her.

> Go to the Barracks and assist Avanyiss

[Florien]

(slight correction helmets would presumably technically be in the armory. That was the intentional destination. The barracks come later in the plan, though if crossing through them to get a helmet is required, that remains fine.)

[SmilyCube112]

Oops. Is it okay if the post gets edited to correct that?