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Post by Father on Jun 26, 2018 11:10:28 GMT 1
Laena finds the opportune moment to approach Lord Durwell just as he has finished conversation with Lord Roxton and his two daughters, the trio obviously have enjoyed his company, Lady Daena casting lingering glances were her younger sister seemed more reserved. "My lady Laena." He makes an elegant bow, never once failing to hold his gaze on her eyes as he kisses her hand if so allowed, though he does steal a suitably short, discreet and approving glance of her body also, Laena can almost feel the eyes of half the young ladies in the room watching her, sick with envy. His facial hair is immaculately groomed as always, he surely must have a skilled barber among his servants, and his thick dark brown curls must have been properly washed, today, with soap, nor does he smell of sweat and horse like most of the knights in attendance. He is lean and tall, wearing a tunic of thin black silk with silver embroidery that fits snugly enough to hint at well defined muscle underneath. "My deepest condolences on Ser Vernan, he was a good man by all accounts." Most lords would hardly be aware that there ever was a landed knight named Ser Vernan. |
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Post by Laena Pyre on Jun 26, 2018 12:47:33 GMT 1
"Lord Marq" she curtsies in response, allowing him to kiss her hand. Her breath catches for a moment when he mentions her late husband's name. She is unable to prevent her eyes widening momentarily. Desperately, she casts about her brain for some knowledge of Lord Marq she can use to reciprocate... Beautiful People - Cunning (Memory) - Marq Durwell: 5d6k4 11 Fail, I presume ...Only to discover most of her brain had joined in a grand ball in her lower stomach region, abandoning her in her hour of need, the traitor. So, she'd have to do the best she could with what she had. "Thank you, Lord Marq, he was a good man, a good husband, and a good father. You please me greatly by proving his memory lives on, even outside his family." After a momentary pause for some quick addition, she says softly to him. "Seventeen words." Then continuing in a more normal tone "Some men have absorbed hours of my life, and failed to impress me. You managed to do so in seventeen words." she gives him a respectful nod of the head. "When someone has so many rumours swirling about them, I dismiss them all until I can corroborate them somehow." She nods her head slightly, a faint smile on her face. "You've just proven one of them true," her smile widens considerably. "You're not boring." From her tone, this is higher praise than the mere words would suggest. |
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Post by Father on Jun 26, 2018 13:58:24 GMT 1
Aside from that which was well known to all, the lesser known details concernin Lord Marq tended to drown in the rampant speculation as to whom he would eventually marry, and he is known to offer vague answers and conflicting sorts of hints when pressed, stoking the fire further.
"Now that is high praise indeed from a very fine lady" He seems to like the compliment, the last one in particular. "I would very much prefer to be impressive and interesting to the alternative, though I would be rightly vain to think myself equally intriguing as the daughter of a king, doubly so when she is as beautiful as all princesses are described to be in the tales."
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Post by Laena Pyre on Jun 27, 2018 0:47:24 GMT 1
Laena touches her heart area with her fingertips. "Such flattery! I imagine most ladies, on receiving such words, ask you to stop, while meaning the opposite. However, I consider false modesty to be a most unbecoming look. So, by all means, continue." Her smile turns to a grin. "But be wary, Udrimmi āeksio. Your flattery may not be refused, but it will be graded. Many more lines like that, and I will begin to suspect there will be a downturn in quality on our second meeting." her tone is challenging, teasing, rather than dismissive.
"Sadly, you have made returning the compliment hard for me. You compare me to a storybook princess, but I can see no role in a story for you. Were some ambitious author to attempt such, he would be heckled mercilessly 'He is charming, intelligent, handsome, quick-witted, gallant, *and* supremely talented at the lists? Well, there goes my suspension of disbelief. Snarks and Grumkins, I can accept, but it is impossible for such a man to exist.'" She clicks her tongue and shakes her head.
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Post by Father on Jun 27, 2018 2:02:46 GMT 1
Ah, my lady claims I make it difficult, and yet she finds a way to win the game of complements, false modesty does become a sōnar rūklon quite well would be my observation. He does seem to enjoy the comparison to stories. "But my lady have obviously not read the book, for example the Great Ser Serwyn of the Mirror Shield would be haunted by the ghosts of all the men he had slain, Azor Ahai labored with a heavy heart for a hundred days and a hundred nights because he knew that to forge Lightbringer so that he could end the long night, he must sacrifice his wife. Perhaps I carry a terrible guilt or sorrow that I hide deep within? Or maybe I am not the hero of the story, but rather the foul villain that at the beginning seems night impossible to take on? I rather hope not, the villains of legend always meet a most gruesome demise."
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Post by Laena Pyre on Jun 27, 2018 3:06:58 GMT 1
The playful look drops from her face, to be replaced with mock incredulity, and her voice lowers and becomes less teasing. "Seriously? You speak High Valyrian, too?" She throws her arms up in mock despair. "Of course you do. Next you'll reveal you own the Iron Bank." Her face and tone turns playful again. "Or maybe you just learned a few pretty names to call ladies? Tell me, Lord Marq, Qilōni iksis dārys?" Her tone is ... curious. Like she's not sure if she wants more to see through a trick, or for Lord Marq to truly be as impressive as he seems. "As for your burdens," she taps her forefinger thoughtfully on her cheek in thought, before shaking her head. "No, I don't believe there is a similarity to those stories. I suspect a story closest to the heaviest burden you carry involves a man in the middle of a masterfully-made buffet of food constantly being pestered as to when he'll settle for a single dish." She keeps her tone light, hoping she's judged the man right that he will take the joke, rather than infer any insult. "And for what it's worth," she takes a small step in, to look up at him, and lowers her voice, "I think you would make an amazing villain." Maybe because of the lowered tone, but there is something different in her voice as she says that. As she says that, she attempts to read Marq's emotions, particularly any reaction to her last line. Beautiful People - Reading Marq - Awareness (Empathy): 5d6k4 14Meanwhile, her mind is racing to deduce possible implied meanings in the name 'Winter Flower', possible interpretations quickly multiplying into uselessness. |
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Post by Father on Jun 27, 2018 10:10:02 GMT 1
"If I owned the Iron Bank, my lady, mayhaps I could become king? Or at least crown one of my choosing, to press a claim without a single drop of the blood of the dragon would require more than gold." He very much seems to like the turn of conversation, daring a light touch to her shoulder, fingers running down her arm as she retracts it, deftly disguised as what could easily be part of consoling a widow. "I must confess, my lady." He lowers his voice in kind, never once failing to take his eyes off hers. "I have on occasion rooted for the villains in a few stories, not the heinous ones of course, but the ones who would have been able to turn themselves into the hero, if only they had won."
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Post by Laena Pyre on Jun 27, 2018 13:14:20 GMT 1
Laena rolls her eyes briefly and snorts as he reveals that, yes, he really does know High Valyrian.
She's able to suppress a shiver as he touches her, but not a slight flush to her cheeks, what remains of her brain's yelled warnings drowned out by the intensifying grand ball in her nethers.
She meets his stare boldly. Not a hypnotised victim, at least not yet, but a challenger, continuing to speak in hushed tones. "I understand entirely. 'Villain' is, in many cases, merely a synonym for 'Loser', regardless of the morality of their actions. As such, it's interesting to consider that, all other things being equal, a skilled immoral person is more likely to come out ahead against a skilled moral person, for they have no constraints on their behaviour that would limit the options of their more moral counterpart. So then, is it not fair to believe that, in many cases, we heroise the immoral, and villainise the moral, despite what we as a society claim to value?"
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Post by Father on Jun 27, 2018 14:27:55 GMT 1
"I think, my lady, that it would be more accurate to say that the men and women who have shaped history are typically those who have been willing to take whatever actions are required of them to change the world to their liking, most of the time at considerable risk to their good health and reputation, as well as that of their loved ones." Now it was his turn to take a measure of his companion. "Such will is often the hallmark of a dragon, though one that seem mostly absent in the line of House Starkwood. My lady should know that I have an insatiable curiosity, and if she might be amenable to indulge it, I have a hunch that in this instance, it is the blood of old Valyria that is as dominant in having shaped her spirit as her appearance."B&S empathy vs Laena: 6d6k4 21
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Post by Laena Pyre on Jun 28, 2018 0:34:33 GMT 1
Laena simply stares into Lord Marq's eyes for a good few seconds of silence, her porcelain face giving nothing away. Perhaps making a point that what she reveals to him, she does so by conscious choice. Or perhaps to hide how little of what she has said, and will say, is true. There is no way for Lord Marq to know for sure. Moving close enough to be just shy of scandal, she begins whispering, quietly enough that even he would likely have to read her lips to pick up all of it over the hubbub around them. Throughout, her eyes blaze with passion her voice cannot express. "I want silk and fur, "gold and silver, "I want women to watch me with awe and envy, "the strong to watch me with frustrated lust, "the weak to soil their breeches in fear of my displeasure, "I want armies to march where I point in the light, "assassins to dance where I point in shadow, "I want stars to fall weeping from the sky when I die, "and mountains to uproot themselves in anguish, "I want to live a life that will shake the heavens."
After a final moment's stare, she takes a small step back, to a more respectable distance, and continuing in a more normal tone. "Does that answer your question, Lord Marq?" |
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Post by Father on Jun 29, 2018 14:55:11 GMT 1
"If I were to make good upon the notion of having a crown placed on my head, I need not search for a queen, my lady." Marq makes her a wink in return, not quite scandalous, but far too suggestive than is proper."And here I thought all the dragons were fourty years dead, the maesters must have been mistaken. Perhaps my lady has scales deftly concealed beneath her skirts?" Unlike most men would, Marq does not let his gaze travel downwards to follow the attention cast by his words. There is a certain interest there, but most men would have acted upon it much more strongly by now.
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Post by Laena Pyre on Jun 29, 2018 18:02:14 GMT 1
Laena can't deny she's tempted to respond differently, but there are enough people around to keep her head clear.
"Mayhap I have, my lord. But even at their most ubiquitous, even those of royal blood could not tame a dragon on the wing. Only once the dragon was safely ensconced in their dragonpit could they be tamed and .. ridden.
"If you intend to build a dragonpit of your own, to claim the title of 'dragonrider', I would be curious to see it. I'd sooner have a rider on me, than have to carry a dead weight in my claws. But unless you are willing to commit to such a project, how soft my .. scales are beneath my skirt will have to remain a mystery to you, insatiable curiosity or no." Her voice conveys regret, yet a firmness beside it.
She begins gracefully edging back. "So, I think we know where we both lie. I am pleased to say that even knowing your reputation, I was pleasantly surprised, and I do hope we speak again."
[OOC: unless he says or does something to draw her back in, Laena will curtsey and leave.
Edit: Mechanically speaking, I'd assume we're roughly-roughly equivalent in social power, so I'd happy trade +2 Disposition for +2 Disposition, if you're willing.]
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Post by Father on Jun 29, 2018 22:52:53 GMT 1
"I dearly hope that we shall have that chance, my lady. And sooner rather than later." He bows her farewell. "I would much prefer to keep my lady company the entire evening, but alas, I am a lord responsible for the well being of a great many others, such obligations demands of me to engage as many of these people as I can manage, most of which I would dare venture to say are less than a tenth as enjoyable to meet."
"Though if my lady would be in need of some small assistance, I would be happy to see what I might do."
[disposition changes seems reasonable given the flow of conversation, he also has the attractive benefit if that sort of thing shapes her opinions.]
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