Wizened and the Fairest

[Anatole]

He was watching the Fairest again; a sly smile creasing the effusive whorls and curls of his beard.

"Good to know you have found something to be joyful about," he added at last, commenting on her playing.

"Gather favours? Arcane curiosity? Might I ask - are you a good fit for the Onyx? You seem more suited for the Ash. I didn't reckon your Court was so interested in such things."

That was a concern - what would the Autumn Court be if it wasn't for their secrets and mystery?

[Cassandra Reeding]

"Everyone has always commented that I'm in the wrong court. Clearly, you are a Spring. Clearly, you are an Autumn. Never been called a Summer though." She chuckles a bit. No, you simply mirror your company, allowing them to feel more comfortable and build easy relationships. This is just your nature. Don't be too careful with your words. Let them think you are slipping vital information to distract... No. Stop. We aren't playing those games anymore. At least, not the way we used to. "I am Onyx Thane. I studied under my previous Freehold's Thane. My job now is the gathering and preservation of mystical knowledges. Though I was trained in her duties as the court go-between as well. Someone had to keep relations positive with the other courts."

"What always separated me from the Ashen Court was my unwillingness to take the necessary risks for knowledge's sake. I am not the type to set something up and just watch what happens. Too much of a control freak for that. And intrigue and favor gathering is as much a Winter past time as it is an Autumn." She grins a little bit. We are the court of spies, after all.

She smiles faintly as another thought crosses her mind, "One of my previous Motley mates was an Autumn and... standing next to him, there was no doubt I was the Winter of our group. Always having to reign him in, scold him for going too far. One of the most intelligent people I knew. Also one of the most idiotic." She shakes her head, laughing a bit.

[Anatole]

Anatole bobbed his head by way of reply.

"Thats fair."

He acknowledged the more desperate, dangerous side of Autumn with a flippant shrug.

"Sometimes you have to take risks. Our world isn't the staid world of mortal science. To receive, you must first be willing to give; and everything has its price. And sometimes you won't know the currency you are bartering with in the Hedge. Sometimes, I don't think even the hobs know! Ha!"

He went sombre.

"A Court go-between? You still think you are doing that? Even here in this small neck of the woods."

Anatole didn't think they needed such formal positions in their tiny Freehold. He was curious, however, to see if Cassandra felt the same way.

[Cassandra Reeding]

"I wouldn't say I'm much of a court go between now. Though, I suppose my training will always have me working that role unintentionally, whether I like it or not. I want to contribute to keeping the health of the Freehold, after all."

She does pause for a moment before saying, "Most positions in a small Freehold aren't necessary, but certain ones exist for a sense of checks and balances. Without them, monarchs can have too much power.

"In this Freehold, I do, to a certain degree, think there is some necessity to balance the power structure. Relationships in a small Freehold hold more weight than any single relationship in a larger one." She sighs a little bit, "It's draining, isn't it? Worrying at all about structure and balance, but someone has to."

There is another pause as she decides whether or not to take a leap of faith. "Does it bother you that we have monarchs occupying dual roles within the Freehold?"

[Anatole]

Anatole sipped his tea and then gently placed the cup down. He was silent, thinking carefully for a moment.

"You're right. In a Freehold like this its more about relationships. For titles to work you need a hierarchy; structure... Its too small and fluid here. Bigger places or where more of us gather you could get away with titles and structure. Look at the Bay. They got so big that their Courts got too strong, and now look at 'em. Its the other way here: even the strongest Court is still a frail shadow of what a Court should be. Friendships matter more..."

Was that why Bugul had vanished: alone; friendless; on the fringes. None had reached out to him... The dwarf's face twisted slightly at the memory.

"Monarch's having more roles don't bother me. If we had to divvy out all the roles in our Freehold, nothing would ever get done and those important jobs would just get treated like tacky badges."

"Can't say too much about balance to this Freehold just yet. The Onyx have only just got organised - and that is already balancing off against a - shall we say, vapid Emerald Court that had weight of numbers previously. Felt like we are starting to stagnate here - so you lot have given anew dynamic and we don't know how that will fall out just yet."

[Anatole]

le BUMP Shenanigans

[Cassandra Reeding]

The Fairest gives a conceding nod, "You're probably not wrong about that. You're right though, things are so up in the air right now, it is difficult to imagine which way things are going to head. I hope we can mitigate any fallout from the tension that is going to come from working on this balancing act. It's never good when any particular group gets used to a certain amount of power." She shakes her head a little, "Though it's probably just my over cautiousness." She rests her hand on her chin, thinking.

She looks back up at Anatole with a hint of concern, "How have you been dealing with that difference? That shock of coming from a big Freehold to such a small, fluid Freehold like this?" Were it not for her own court, she'd feel completely lost. Anatole has Rhodes, but he's been practically entirely absent. Has he had support? Does he need support? He doesn't seem particularly bothered by it the way he talks. Maybe she's just projecting her own dealing with that culture shock.

Thanks for the bump. Thought I'd responded haha

[Anatole]

"Oh I don't think you are being over cautious. I'd say, rather, that demonstrates you have an understanding of how relations among our kind can work. There were few Winters before you all dropped in. So much so the Cycle cracked. The ... social circuit... knows how to put on a simple coronation bash. They don't seem to want to do the work necessary to make the Season's turn properly and when they were forced to act, they took another route - a much more curious and interesting one, I might add - rather than work the Season properly."

He did wonder how much influence Rhodes had had on finding the Wyrdstone.

"But now the Courts and the Seasons are in proper balance. I'm hopeful of more formality, like your Court displayed; so I'm quite excited to see what the Emerald actually do this year."

A drinking fest or cheap party in their Court tavern wasn't going to cut after the display the Onyx had put on.

"I had been on the road a while when I arrived here. They didn't turn me away. They offered shelter - which I took - until I found a place of my own. Rhodes is a distant Sovereign; he keeps to himself and his paramour; and leaves me to mine own business. Not to say we haven't worked together - we have. We've done some work together strengthening our Court Hollow and he has been involved in training in the Dream. He might not appear to doing anything, but I can assure you that he is."

[Cassandra Reeding]

Cassandra mulled over the Wizened words for a long moment. The social circuit, huh? And interesting phrase he uses for them, but he's right. And again, another sense of renewed interest in wanting to know more about this Wyrdstone. She'd sworn an oath over it, after all. How much did Rhodes know?

"I would never assume that the Leaden Mirror isn't working something behind the scenes." That might have come off with a bit of a snarkiness to it. "Not that I mean that in any sense of a bad way. And I know that Rhodes has been incredibly busy and exhausted with his work. I'm glad you two have had time to work together. I mean more to ask if you are feeling properly supported in general within the Freehold, on the emotional and social front. If you need anything, I'd be happy to do what I can."

She pauses and considers before asking, "What did the Spring do for their coronation last year? It must have been quite informal based on what I've gathered from our conversation, but I don't know the degree."

[Anatole]

Anatole did not reply at first; and if he was offended by the snark creeping into the Onyx's voice he did not show it. Indeed, he was smiling slyly once more - so much so that he was shifting from cat-like to fox-like in his general countenance. His face smoothed into a harder line as he resumed speaking.

"Of course. I was nearly killed by that Iron Meg. Left crippled for the Freehold, so they could sleep soundly knowing a major enemy has been weakened. Titania cured me; healed me with her Spring magics."

Grunting, he tugged on his beard while he thought back to the beginning of the previous year.

"A... themed party... in their Wishing Well Tavern. A silly little luau. I suppose it was fine... as an after Coronation blow off. But what do I know? I only had to act as the bar keep because they didn't have one..."