(1108) Ricardo and Ariana

Originally posted by Ebon Reaper:

Ricardo shakes a little, doing his best to keep from running. He thinks to himself "I loath these rules."

"The lovely Jacqui told me that you are well respected and helpful to new arrivals. I am interested in hearing about the domain and eager to present myself to the proper authorities."

"And feed" growled his Beast.

"Well that was very lovely of her to do so. Perhaps it would be easiest to help you if you would permit me to know your Clan and if you have any Covenant affiliations as well." Ariana leaned in yet still at a respectable distance to whisper. "I also did not catch your name previously." She said with a wink. Straightening herself in to her proper stance again she politely spoke. "I would be happy to help you."

I am Ricardo Rodriguex Reyes, and I am a Lord who is not currently a member of any Covenant."

He thinks, "That is what she means by Covenant affiliation, right? My sire was Sanctified, but I would rather not be associated with them anymore."

He continues, "If I may be so bold, would you mind letting me know your Clan and affiliation?"

Ariana's eyes perked up a little more than usual. "It is wonderful to have another Lord in our Domain Mr. Reyes. I am also of the same Clan as well as Alder Prince Clarke." She smiled softly. "We are both of the First Estate, as well as Deputy Conner Greyson ." Gesturing back to the Shadow that she was standing next to.

"Follow me, and I will show you our Domain map. As your Priscus, I am able to grant you temporary acknowledgement until Herald Villiers is able to see you. You will have two weeks to do so. " Gesturing with her body as she began walking down the hall a little. "What brings you to Sacramento Mr. Reyes?" Ariana said with a curious smile as they strolled over to the tapestry.

Ricardo smiled, and tried to hide his wince when she said Mr. Reyes. He thought, "I think I will have to start introducing myself as Reyes Ricardo, so that when the locals shorten my name they use the correct one."

"Thank you so much, it is good to be around so many illustrious members of our Clan. As for why I came here, my old domain of Mexicali got too small. After I earned my freedom from my sire, I decided to move north. Sacramento seemed far enough away, but still have many Spanish speaking Kindred."

Ariana saw his slight facial gesture. “I apologize, did I mispronounce your name?” Asking sincerely so she would not make the mistake again.

Her face was in thought for a moment as she went through some of the Domain residents. “If we have any Spanish speaking members, I do not believe I have had the privilege of meeting them. Although there are many hidden talents among our society.” She smiled sincerely.

As they arrived at the map, Ariana pointed to the wall. “Here you will find the map of our Domain.” She pointed to the center and up through the middle. “These are the Communal Hunting Grounds. You are welcome to feed here. When you become fully acknowledged you may ask for Tenancy. I do apologize for a slight error on my behalf; you will be able to be Temporarily Acknowledged by myself. Then before or during the next Official Court you will need to seek full acknowledgement from Herald Villiers or Alder Prince Clarke.” Nodding to Ricardo and continuing.

“These are the Laws of the Domain. Please look them over and ask any questions that you may have. We have had some careless individuals who did not read them all at one time or another.” Ariana waited for Ricardo to read them to see if there were questions.

"No need to apologize Ms. Donovan, it is just a minor cultural thing. My last name is technically Rodriguez. I really do appreciate the consideration."

Though the thought of not having other Kindred to talk to in Spanish was a bit uncomfortable, Ricardo did see a positive side to it. He might be able to gain some small advantage in feeding from it.

With that thought in mind, he began to look over the maps and laws. After a moment he turned back to Ariana.

"Thank you for the temporary acknowledgment. I shall seek full acknowledgment at the earliest convenience of the Herald or Prince. Most of these laws seem quite reasonable. I do have one minor question about these maps. Is the territory not divided by Covenant? It seems marked by individual regents, not by their organizations."

“Not a problem Mr. Rodriguez.” Ariana smiled with a gentle head nod.

“I only have one favor to ask of you until your full Acknowledgement. That is to ask questions if you are unsure of how things work. If there are matters of etiquette in regards to speaking with officials or anything else, I will be happy to assist you.” Offering to Ricardo sincerely. It would be rather unfortunate to lose another Lord for mishaps at court.

“There are two Mekhets and a Gangrel as our Regents currently. We have two vacancies as some have departed on business out of the city.” Ariana also thought of the offenses done to their clan and were removed in more ways than one. “I do see where it would make sense to have the Clan or Covenants each take one. However, some of either have high turn over rates within our Domain and it would be a never ending rotation.” Stating as a note of interest. “You mentioned you were unaligned, were there any Covenants that were of interest to you Mr. Rodriguez?”

Ricardo thought for a moment. "I see that subjects are not supposed to approach the Prince without his express approval. Is that true of other officials as well? Other than politeness, are there restrictions when talking to them?"

He considered the "high turn over rates" for a moment. It seemed to indicate instability, but also that the best suited to rule were able to come to power.

"As for Covenants, the Invictus looks quite promising. It seems as though many of our Clan are in that organization. I was also intrigued by the Circle of the Crone and the Ordo Dracul, they have interesting philosophies." Basically, anybody but the Sanctified he thinks to himself.

The fact that someone actually read through and ask questions was quite impressive to Ariana. “Yes, regarding Prince Clarke that is true. As long as you maintain respect for the officials you will do just fine.” Smiling with encouragement. “Respect travels far and wide around our Domain, those who fail do get noticed.” She said as a gentle word of caution to the Hispanic Lord.

“As a member of the First Estate myself, it is a prominent Covenant in our Domain. The others are going through some fresh starts. Although it appears that there are few members in attendance from the Acolytes or Dragons in attendance tonight. And yet, the Herald is a member of the Dragons, she is currently in a meeting at the moment.” Stating as she nodded to the conference room glancing at Conner then looking back to Ricardo.

“Please feel free to ask any further questions. Is there anything you are particularly interested within our city or Domain? Hobbies or specialties perhaps?” Ariana asked with interest to see if there was anyone that may be able to find him a place within the city.

"I will keep the need for respect in mind, my lady" Suddenly very conscious of how informally he had been addressing Ariana.

Ricardo considered his talents for a minute. "If you need a someone to talk to the Hispanic Kine community, I would be happy to do so. I have some experience in manual labor and am not bad in a dust up." After a sigh, he continues "If I was allowed to, I could smooth over the Predator's Taint."