A Discussion of Policy

[Josephine Sterling]

Josephine waited outside Clarke's office in the Nox, clad in what had almost become her uniform of office: a velvet and satin jacket with silver piping, a silver blouse, and black slacks and flats. A purse carried her most important possessions: notebooks and pens. Oh, and her pistol, though that was more of a necessity than anything else. She wouldn't wish to be found wanting were she suddenly called upon to protect the Prince, after all.

Not that she expected she would have to. Not here, in the center of his power. It was at the edges of his empire that the Barbarians lurked, and though most were content to ignore them, the Reeve was not.

Hence why she was here...

[Asa]

"Good evening."

Much like Josephine (and most immortals), the man that opened the door had his own 'uniform'. This evening the dress shirt only sported the faintest hints of purples in hairline pinstripes. If there was a tie, it had either been taken off or had yet to be put on. For a moment, Asa simply considered tearing her head off and gorging himself on the Blood within. It was what the Beast wanted.

"Please, come in." Asa stepped aside, closing the door behind her. A hand gestured to various seating options that ranged from comfortable club chairs across from his desk to the semi-circle couch that was at the center. He remained standing and waited for her choice.

"What would you like to speak about this evening?"

[Josephine Sterling]

As usual the taint of Hell was absent from the handsome form that loomed before her, and thus the Reeve had no trouble returning the Prince's greeting with an equanimous "thank you, your grace," as she stepped inside.

Nevertheless, it mildly irritated her. She wanted to taste the essence of the demon to whom she had deigned bow to. She wanted to feel the monstrosity that lurked behind the Prince's mask. The seething pulse of condensed evil...

But alas, that was not to be so. Not until the Prince willed it to be so, and Josephine knew that day would come. Eventually.

For now, she had more important things to dwell upon, and so at the Prince's invitation she took a seat upon his couch, spine rigidly straight, and began to expound upon her reason for coming.

"Tonight, your grace, I wished to speak with you about an initiative that I am forming. One which I would like to become a matter of policy for the Office of the Reeve, though I of course wished to get your opinion before it was instituted. You see, in light of recent events, the former Keeper's letter being one of them, I have come to understand that the barbarians at our courts are more numerous than I had once thought. And though there is of course enough strength in the Domain to quell them, I fear that it would disrupt the court that...so many have come to enjoy," Josephine expressed, her features carefully smoothed into blankness. Or at least as near as they could be beneath the shrewd eyes of a ruler that had spent decades observing features of the walking dead.

"Thus, instead of petitioning for something disruptive, I have alighted upon a far more elegant solution. Namely through the application of ghouls. I believe that many in the Domain have been reticent in embracing their true potential and properly utilizing the kine, and thus I shall begin to encourage the recruitment of ghouls in a select few members of the Domain. Then, once this has been accomplished, I shall deputize them and direct them to set their ghouls to the tasks appointed them by the Office of the Reeve. I will have my own ghoul monitor the activities of the others so that we can be assured that there are no complications, but will have greater flexibility in exterminating the vermin hiding in the cracks of the domain.

"However, in addition to hearing your thoughts upon this idea, I am also wishing to discuss with you some...incentives that I can extend to the members of the new initiative. I was thinking, perhaps, that extended feeding rights might properly entice them," Josephine explained before lapsing into silence and awaiting the Prince's reaction.

[Asa]

At some point in time, he'd have to ask.

Whether she had several suits, had one meticulously maintained, or had a tailor replicating the original. As the waitress he'd Fed upon earlier would say, "hash tag" immortal problems. He brought one of the club chairs around, setting it down to face her, and sat in it. Where she was rigid, he leaned forward. Forearms resting on knees and hands relaxed with laced fingers put his entire bearing into the subtle impression that he was wholly focused on her existence and words.

Stephen Archer. That's who she reminds me of.

"And will you submit to my Blood, as you would have your Ghouls bound to you and yours?"

Asa let the question sink in before continuing.

"Otherwise, the answer to your last thought would be an absolute 'No'. I could hardly be expected to Feed and strengthen that which might be used against me." He smiled slightly and held up a finger to forestall a protest. "Perhaps not by you, but by someone you approached. Or a later occupant of your Office, once a precedent had been established."

"As for using empowered Kine in general, I have no issue. Obviously I do so, and it extends our reach beyond the the shadows and into the sunrise. So while you consider my first question, let me ask you second: Have you ever held Regnancy over a Ghoul?"

[Josephine Sterling]

"I would submit," Josephine replied stolidy, eyes narrowing not in anger, but in concentration as she studied the Demon across from her. "I have already chained myself to your fate, one way or another. Or perhaps chained is not the correct word. Leashed, perhaps, for it is obviously your hand upon the leash, to be held or dropped at your will.

"So I must admit, I'm surprised that you would ask me that, your grace," she continued, "for as you say, a later occupant of the Reeve's Office would not be affected by such a tie, nor would someone that I might approach. Furthermore, you know better than I do what it is like to have someone bound to your Blood. It makes our Gifts easier to use, and our words better heeded, but nevertheless such a fixation upon us brings its own stresses. So I'm not sure what you would gain, when a command or request presently given could still win you the same results."

And, as for the question of a ghoul...she wanted to say yes, though her tongue did not like the feel of the word. She could imagine men and women through the ages, staring at her with longing in their eyes, but their names...fled from her as hares before the jaws of wolves. Unholy wolves, their fangs divinely given...

[Asa]

Either he'd vastly underestimated her appreciation for the Vinculum, or her commitment to a given cause. The latter was unsurprising for a Sanctified -- but he wouldn't have thought that resolve would extend beyond the divine.

"I'll assume the answer to my second question by your accurate assessment of the more inconvenient aspect of thralls." Asa leaned back, an action that might have been subconsciously influenced by applying the thought of those aspects to a thralled Josephine Sterling. "Two. That has been the typical number of Deputies to the Reeve's office. If you were to Deputize members of your 'Initiative', then they would have access to the Rack."

"But it does beg the question as to why you aren't simply using Deputies."

[Josephine Sterling]

A small frown pulled the left corner of the Reeve's mouth down, though her gaze fell towards the distance, her dissatisfaction not directed at the Prince.

"It is because, as with most who suffer ambition, I desire this to last beyond my time spent in the Reeve's Office: an appointment that will invariably have an end. But you are right, of course. There is a danger in precedents, and a safety to be found in that which can be easily dissolved..."

...or discarded, like a bullet into the brainpan of a useless ghoul.

"But very well. I shall merely make a ghoul a requirement of the position of Deputy, and I can always persuade the Priscii to extend favor to any other that sees fit to lend their resources to my office."

A simple exercise of Domain politics. No doubt what the Prince had hoped to encourage with his elevation of clan heads.

"Which now leaves us with just the question of what inspired you to mention the prospect of a Vinculum to me," Josephine continued, curiosity mollifying her expression.

[Asa]

Asa fell silent for a few moments, the raven in front of him disappearing in a focal point beyond her.

He, of course, was waiting for one of those ended appointments. That same appointment that was the reason for the office being titled 'Reeve' instead of 'Sheriff' -- despite the common assumption that it was his Invictus ties.

"That would be an interesting requirement," he finally returned to the conversation. "I don't think it's been done before, but obviously would extend the reach significantly. One concern might be compartmentalizing information, given the nature of a Deputy's involvement in the Domain versus, say, a personal ghoul." Or three.

Perhaps it was suggestion, or warning.

"To your question, I would confess it was simply a kneejerk reaction. An appropriate measure to control something which might become... uncontrollable... otherwise." Asa smiled. "Or at least something to give you pause. That failed, though, so I am curious if that indicates a devotion to this office or personal views on the Vinculum. I've heard it said that it's most common within the Invictus but perhaps that's an attitude that both Estates share?"

[Josephine Sterling]

No matter if the Prince had intended his words as a suggestion, or a warning, Josephine was unconcerned. The danger a group of trained, informed, and blood addicted kine could hold was something that had crossed her mind, and something that already had its own contingency. She would have her own personal servant among them, monitoring them, guiding them...placed in a position to kill them, if it became necessary. And she had already mentioned as much, so Josephine let that point lie and instead addressed the Prince's question.

"The Sanctified view the Vinculum as a gift from the Almighty, to be used much as our Gifts of the Blood are: to influence the kine. As for the love and submission of the Kindred, that is usually reserved for the Almighty themselves. Directing that same love and submission to a flawed earthly vessel would be considered by most to be a dangerous act, one that can lead to the subversion of another's true faith. So you're first suspicion was correct, you grace. Normally, that would have provoked a quite shocked response. I'm no longer a part of the Lancea et Sanctum, however."

[Asa]

"Indeed, you are not."

Asa shifted in his chair, relaxing back and crossing one leg over the other.

"I was just unaware of how many of their customs you still held to." He assumed her faith. Perhaps not their interpretation of faith? "It would seem odd, that if the Sanctified considered Vinculum between Kindred in that light, that you be willing."

Asa shrugged, and made a dismissive gesture with his hand. It had been an abstract thought; a rebuttal, rather than a proposal.

"But speaking of that -- that you are no longer Sanctified, have you found the Invictus more to your liking? I feel a bit remiss as Judex that I haven't assembled us in quite some time, but until recently it's only been you, Twist, and myself."