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Post by Father on Dec 16, 2018 13:56:19 GMT 1
Unannounced, the door opens and a cloaked figure enters, waiting for the door to close before revealing himself to be Lord Durwell. "We live in interesting times, septon" He begins, his eyes glittering with intelligence and curiosity. "If I might skip straight to why I took the trouble to come, I wanted to ask as to what you hoped to achieve when you spoke with such inspiration, and other things, but I thought we might start with that" |
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Post by Septon Abelar on Dec 16, 2018 17:45:29 GMT 1
Abelar rises to greet the visitor. Durwell . . . a surprise that one so powerful would risk an audience.
"My Lord. I hoped the mob would deliver justice to Lord Merryweather. When lords and kings stand idle, something must be done."
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Post by Father on Dec 16, 2018 20:46:20 GMT 1
"By having him torn to pieces? Along with his guardsmen, sworn swords, and innocents caught in between?" Lady Marianne and Simon was rescued, but a number of Lord Eldon's servants were less lucky, did they have a choice in serving him? "I do hope that you did not expect those sworn to defend him to abandon their oaths? Or a thousand men charged to protect the innocent before receiving the sword that made them into knight to abandon their holy duty?"
"I wonder, have you contemplated upon why Lord Merryweather have yet to stand trial for his deeds? I think the whole realm knows exactly what sort of man he is, but by the laws of men he does have the right to answer his accusations, and yet, he has walked free of even that. I know what a lord will answer, most septons will shy away from the question in my experience, but I imagine that you are not like most other septons in this."
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Post by Septon Abelar on Dec 16, 2018 21:42:29 GMT 1
"My preference was for an orderly trial, but those with the power to make it so took no action. If the Faith maintained trained men under arms or justiciar powers, things would have gone more smoothly." Abelar wipes back some stray hairs. "I see now that I should have foreseen the destruction my words would have caused. I regret having uttered them."
"Why Merryweather's justice was interminably delayed? I expect Lord Tyrell does not want to upset relations with Longtable ahead of a possible war. But that is no reason to deny justice. A real septon speaks the truth, no matter the consequence. Some of the lords and ladies here may be willing to pretend so that Longtable's knights march in the preferred direction, but I am not."
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Post by Father on Dec 17, 2018 19:43:56 GMT 1
"I think it is much more simple, septon, the greatest motivator of all is in play here, and that is fear" Marq offers. "There was a time when lords and kings feared The Faith, when but a word from the Starry Sept might force a man of even Lord Merryweather's wealth and power to dress in rags and walk barefoot to the Starry Sept, and if he did not, the holy orders would lay siege to his lands until he relented and sought penance, he would of course travel to Oldtown in the fashion a man of his station would be accustomed to, but he would humble and prostate himself on the steps of the sept. The fear of being so humiliated and open to attack by his enemy ensured that most High Septons did not have to issue penance for repentant lords. Then came the dragons and broke The Faith's hold on fear, now there are no more dragons of the scaly kind, and lords fear only other lords, and the greater their power, the greater the fear they command. And Lord Eldon is very powerful indeed."
"If The Faith is to regain it's rights of wielding swords and justice, it must first make all these lords fear what happens if they do not share such right more than they fear what The Faith might do with it" Marq argues in a calm and analytical manner. "The damage that a band of unorganized smallfolk did yesterday inspired much fear of what the result might have been if they were trained and armed with weapons of war, when you have no trained men under arms and no justiciar powers, it is best to work with those who have such things at their command, if Lords fear what their peers will do should the voice of The Faith condemn them, they will bend to your will. If they fear what the smallfolk will do, they will simply ensure that the smallfolk does not hear it."
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Post by Septon Abelar on Dec 18, 2018 0:24:58 GMT 1
"You've explained ably why the Faith Militant should be restored and why its absence requires cooperation with lords, but your tale does not explain why nobody else took action against Merryweather. There was ample cause, though my own efforts at securing witnesses proved difficult. I suspect the Redwyne knight would have testified, but I could not reach him."
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Post by Father on Dec 18, 2018 19:07:19 GMT 1
"A man that would testify against Lord Eldon would not willingly serve him" Lord Marq comments dryly. "And besides Lord Starling, none of these lords took action to censure him because he is not their enemy and they fear that going against him would bring House Merryweather on the other side of this war that everyone agrees is coming, there is presently no force that will bring Lord Eldon to court. Taking matters in one's own hands is the only way to do it, though I should think a false witness, should a knight known for his honor step forward and confess to having seen everything and swear it by The Seven, only Ser Rennifer would stand between Lord Eldon and the gelding knife, but Lord Eldon is not stupid enough to let a knight known for his honor witness any such crime, and of those knights able to defeat Ser Rennifer in combat, I know of none that are both known for their honor and yet would act dishonorably to see justice done."
"To bring Lord Eldon to justice, and by that I mean condemned by the laws of gods and men, not assassination, change will be required. I doubt Lord Eldon will make stupid mistakes, which means reform of the king's law, or the re-emergence of the laws of The Faith. In the absence of royal whim, influence and power is required, and that must be built" It is difficult to understand what exactly drives this man, he seems sincere in wanting to help, whether he shares Abelar's goals or simply seeks to profit upon Abelar's pursuit of them is impossible to discern. "I would suggest looking into the words of Lady Laena Pyre regarding Lady Meadows, her story should be easy to verify and the implications are unpleasant. I also have a man in my service, Ser Orton Ambrose, previously sworn to Lord Cordwayner, but dismissed as the knights sworn to him were, one by one, even his brother Ser Roland was practically told to leave, replaced by men loyal to Lady Maegelle, Ser Orton believes quite strongly that his supposed heirs are in truth the offspring of Ser Normyn, though he cannot say for certain, the one man that would know would be Lord Ilyn himself, I have a feeling that he might confess the truth if his guilt is sufficiently strongly fed, assuming there is such a guilt. But do catch him alone, the presence of family would make such a thing much more difficult"
"If these ladies can be confirmed as sinners and then exposed as such, I believe there will be strong interests in favor of their children being declared illegitimate that the agents of The Faith could work with, and thus lay the foundation for influence. If a septon were to aid in the *successful* prosecution of those who have sinned broken the laws of men in the proceeds, he may find more opportunity to do so, and for each time a lord sees that his station offers less protection from the laws of men should he break them in a fashion that also angers The Faith, he will be much more fearful of committing such an act. That is how I would begin, laying stone upon stone."
"Many stones are required to build a castle, or a grand sept."
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Post by Septon Abelar on Dec 19, 2018 1:52:59 GMT 1
Abelar thinks as he listens. If Lord Meadows is a Great Bastard and is deposed in favor of Durwell's man, that would push the boy into rebellion and make Durwell their foe. A plot against Cordwayner would likewise undercut the rebels. He seeks to use me, but does he reveal his hand to do so?
"I will take your words into consideration, my lord. Back at Gyldenhaal, I presided over trials and more." If Lord Marq is well-informed, he may have heard rumors that the Blackbriars' masked executioner has never been seen beside Abelar. "But I suspect my time there is destined to be forever past. A new pulpit will be required if I am to deliver justice the right way." A beat passes and the septon changes the subject.
"You speak of future trials and mine has not yet commenced. Is there anything you can offer by dawn tomorrow?"
Tempting though his proposal is, I mustn't hound his enemies for a simple justiciar's post, which may be stripped at any time by the hand that granted it. No, give me the silver raiment of the Most Devout and I'll see your bastards cast down.
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Post by Father on Dec 19, 2018 15:14:32 GMT 1
"Perhaps, though I know not what might interest a septon." Marq says, askance. "Even though some seems to think me a master puppeteer that makes everyone dance to my whim, I doubt even they would believe me capable of restoring The Faith Militant in a day."
He could intrigue you, but given his stats, I tend to play Marq as a more transactional figure, give him what he wants, and he'll give you a reasonably fair trade in return.
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Post by Septon Abelar on Dec 20, 2018 1:33:36 GMT 1
"Restoring the Faith Militant is not what I would ask of you. Such a thing would require the alignment of many interests. Do you know of Septon Tristimun?" Abelar names the oldest member of the Most Devout, known to be sickly. "His position is one that I aspire to."
And not for the first time. Ten years ago that was.
I'm offering to come after Meadows and Cordwayner as he suggests if he can get me elected to the Most Devout--presumably through a large donation. If that's not possible, maybe I'll do one of them if he can get someone like Yelshire to place me in the justiciar's chair.
TN 18 Knowledge check to know that Abelar was on track for election into the Most Devout ten years ago, but found that his support faltered after the death of his mentor, Septon Leobert. His principal opponent in this, Septon Roswyn, is still on the Most Devout, and is known as a savvy, pragmatic courtier-septon.
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Post by Father on Dec 20, 2018 15:36:17 GMT 1
"I must confess that the name eludes my memory, I know every Great Bastard, if not personally then at least by name, face and reputation, and all the lords and great knights of the Reach, and many from beyond as well, but of septons and the hierarchy of The Faith, I fear I know scarce more than most lords and knights." Which is very little, though knowing the Seven Pointed Star and living in accordance with it's words is all that The Seven requires of lords and knights. "Though I would imagine he holds a seat of high importance in King's Landing or Oldtown?"
That would be nowhere like a fair trade, he can get someone else to do that work for him and he's also pushing on your drawback buttons (as he points out how you can verify that these are sinners). Finding out how to rig such an election, and expending the gold and time and resources to do that would be sufficient to send both Maegelle and Johanna to the silent sisters many times over. He'll be willing to help you towards such an end to the extent it otherwise would cost him to arrange what he wants from Abelar here through other means, at a discount because he is a well-connected lord that just won the joust and would very much hold the upper hand in intrigue.
It is also not at all obvious that lashing out at Johanna would turn her towards fire, Maegelle is known to take that side, meaning you'd get blood support and fire resistance whereas with Johanna, odds are that you might get both blood and fire support and no resistance considering that everyone sees how Marq benefits and both sides wants to get him to theirs.
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Post by Septon Abelar on Dec 21, 2018 5:34:01 GMT 1
Abelar considers his words before responding.
OOC: I feel like delivering two noble houses into his clutches is a pretty big service, especially because Abelar is not known as a transactional person, which further hides Durwell's fingerprints. Maybe a good compromise position is that he puts a donation in with an informal message that he favors me for the position? That way he doesn't have to guarantee my success or expend effort to figure out ecclesiastical politics.
Regarding Meadows, my thinking is that throwing Lucas out would immediately push him toward Fire because (1) he's a "Great Bastard;" (2) who has a claim he could press through war; and (3) is a thirteen year old boy who is probably obsessed with knights and famous swords.
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Post by Father on Dec 21, 2018 11:43:21 GMT 1
He is generally only asking you to:
1. Meet Lord Cordwayner and see if you can't make him confess. (Intrigue).
2. Verify that Lucas is a bastard and denounce him as such (public rumor action).
Neither thing probably not enough by itself, but contributory towards his objectives.
And also framing both actions as part of a strategy to build his status and influence. His motivation with the Meadows is obvious, but what he gains out of setting up Roland as the rightful Cordwayner heir is a matter of speculation.
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Post by Septon Abelar on Dec 21, 2018 21:24:19 GMT 1
"He is an aged member of the Most Devout, serving in Oldtown, if he has not passed on yet. If you offered the Church some modest support with my name on your lips, I would be in your debt."
I'm accepting, assuming he's willing to do something within the parameters I outlined, which I expect would be some sort of donation that mentions me. You can scope the size and impact of his side of the bargain based on Durwell intrigue yield principles. It will give me something to work with in the next chronicle, even if it doesn't mean I get to waltz into the position.
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Post by Father on Dec 21, 2018 22:01:44 GMT 1
"Does The Faith show such consideration upon modest gifts?" Marq asks with curiosity, he knows little of inner workings of The Faith, but knows enough about men to suspect that septons of power would be just as fallible to it's intoxicating effects as knights of power, though both groups would likely be threatened by Abelar, a man loyal only to his own beliefs can be the most dangerous of them all, uncontrollable by threats, bribes and whores, and the only men more dangerous are those who has mastered a wider set of tools than threats, bribes and whores. Bribes is not truly what Marq does, influence and connections among nobles are his primary currencies, his lands are relatively modest for a Reacher Lord, so his actual wealth is not that great, there were still those claiming that House Durwell had been built upon selling the wool of sheep stolen from the Marshalls of the Northmarch. Lord Marq had always wondered if there was any truth to that or if it was just some Osgrey blaming the downfall of their house on everyone except themselves. In any case, he very much does like mutton and this is a family trait.
Influence and connections will have to do, Lord Mullendore would surely know what makes Oldtown spin, with Lord Hightower's death, Marq needs to become familiar on that subject anyway. He needs to know what will move Lord Jon's heirs, he needs to know what might happen if Abelar ascends to the pulpit of black marble and crystal in the Starry Sept, especially if he is to have a hand in raising him there.
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