Artemis Athenos Valkyriakos (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
graveyardmoon) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
zenderael_mmo2013-03-18 10:07 pm
graveyardmoon) wrote in zenderael_mmo2013-03-18 10:07 pm
Entry tags:
Artemis/Lera - A favour
Who:
Artemis
Lera
When: Wed, 7/20
Where: Sidareh, a Saftan town
Before/After: N/A
Warnings: None
The new Mazda's inspection of the towns and fortifications along the Saftan borders had a fast pace. It was also relatively quiet, meeting with town leaders and local commanders. The presence of both the Mazda and the Spenta (who proved to be a welcome surprise, especially after an assassination attempt on Monday) meant they wanted to be quiet and make silence a part of their security plan. The town of Sidareh, located on the border, was just one of the stops today.
Lera had done all of the business that she needed to, but the rest of the expedition was eating an early dinner. She had already eaten with the town's elder, which meant that she decided to pass on that dinner and get a look at the town. The notion of evacuating every town in the border had been proposed by Marsal at a meeting. Before she really considered that, she wanted to see the lives of the people she would be disrupting.
This meant that the Mazda was standing seemingly by herself, at the town's small market. It had the basic supplies and some local alchemists selling ingredients. She stopped at one stall, looking over a sheathed dagger and pretending she had interest in it. Really, she was here to think by herself.
The truth, of course, is that she was far from alone. Beyond the townspeople and adventurers that stopped here -- several of whom were milling about the marketplace, though they largely kept a distance from Lera -- ten of the Amber Gaze's guards were posted, watching the Mazda carefully. Monday's assassination attempt was a secret from the populace, but word had spread through the military.
It was moderately annoying, always being watched.
Artemis was in Sidareh on business as well, though nothing so dire as Lera's. He was there to deliver an order of potions, opting to do it personally rather than through Safta's new mail service because it also gave him the opportunity to hunt for components in the area. He liked to minimize the amount of warps he'd be taking at any given time, and when you preferred to gather all your own components, that could get tricky.
He returned to town with a decent supply for his own work, plus a side-collection of things to sell off because he didn't need them. That didn't lead him to the market, because it was wiser to sell those components in a town that wasn't right next to where they were found, but he was on his way through the market to return to the warp mage.
He was dressed in his purple butterfly-inspired leather armour, already wiped clean of any blood, his hair and makeup impeccable as always. He hardly looked like he'd just spent hours killing monsters and carving them up for parts. A potion-belt with a gun holster attached did mark him as someone who meant business, though.
When he walked by Lera, he had to do a double take. He slowed to a stop, turning to look at her again. Yes, that was the girl who'd admonished him for his treatment of Nova at the Solstice party. That was also the girl he'd seen on the news recently who'd announced herself as the new Mazda. He hadn't made the connection until just now.
He still had video footage of her making an idiot of herself on his phone. Hmm.
Lera looked over the dagger for a moment longer, before she politely put it down and said a few thanks to the stall's owner. She turned, starting to walk down the street that led through the market. Her hands slid into her pockets, enjoying the very thin illusion of being anonymous -- she wasn't, of course, wearing the coat of the Mazda, but she wasn't doing anything official, either -- and the brief self-delusion that she was mostly by herself.
Then, she got a good look at Artemis. She noticed him out of the corner of her eye, but she had not remembered him very well thanks to the amount of alcohol in her system. Once she got a good look, two things occurred to her: first, that was the person who acted like an ass at the Solstice. Second, that armor was amazing.
She looked at him for a moment. Was he going to say something? She had no idea. She nodded to him, but she said nothing at first. Maybe he wouldn't recognize her.
The idea seemed silly as soon as she thought it.
Ah, she'd recognized him too. Even acknowledged him.
How mean did he feel like being, today...?
He smiled warmly, moving to approach her, nothing threatening in his demeanour at all. Nothing genuine, either, though he was good at faking that. "I believe we are acquainted. Lera, wasn't it? I wonder how well you remember our first encounter."
Lera remained guarded. It had nothing to do with any particular distrust of Artemis; she did not trust him to be particularly kind, but she doubted he was an assassin, especially one bold enough to strike with spellswords on guard. It had everything to do with an assassination attempt the day before and a mounting sense of stress from the business of the mission. She tilted her head to the side and smiled a small smile.
"We are," she said. She decided it was better to be gracious; she hardly needed a scene out here. "I recall parts of it. I'm afraid I got rather carried away. I owe you an apology for that. I hope no offense was taken."
One eyebrow raised. Did he not know the news of her promotion? Or did he simply not want to acknowledge it? She had riding clothes on; a heavy tunic, baggy pants, and boots. Her coat and uniform were being cleaned after some heavy use.
"None whatsoever," he replied. Actually, enough for him to be talking to her now and considering how best to get back at her. "It wouldn't do to hold a grudge against the new Mazda."
He was familiar with her title. The lack of its use was noted; the problem, of course, was demanding she be called admiral to civilians risked sounding petulant. That had to be earned. "Glad to hear it. Artemis, isn't it?"
"Count Artemis Valkyr, to be precise." His own title was not so impressive as Mazda or Admiral, but it was worth making note of. Even if it wasn't real and apparently had never been. No one else needed to know that.
He took out his phone, flipping through icons to find where it stored captured video. "It's exhausting, having a title, isn't it? There's a constant need to maintain a proper public image. The slightest misstep can create quite the scandal."
Lera's expression grew chilly. She should have known it would go like this.
"What do you want?" she asked.
He looked up from the screen, his face a perfect mask of shocked innocence. "I'm insulted, Lera. Extortion is a rogue's game."
"So it is, Count," Lera said. She frowned at him, then she sighed. Did he have backups of the video? She had to consider what other videos were out there; probably at least a couple of stupid things made it to YouTube. She did a lot of stupid things. Sooner or later, some party she went overboard at would get out. It was delaying the inevitable -- but maybe if the inevitable came after her position wasn't as new, it would be better.
"Suppose the Mazda asked you a favor to delete that video. As, of course, a loyal citizen of Safta." She shrugged her shoulders. "A favor in return seems reasonable. What would that favor be, if the Mazda were to ask?"
A satisfied, catlike smile came to his face. "If I were to do that as a favour to Safta's dear Admiral, I believe the favour I would ask in return is steady work with a generous salary. The dragonmail strike has put quite a damper on private business, you understand."
It wasn't that Artemis had any particularly burning desire to work for the Amber Gaze, but he realized he was stagnating researching Earth-based tech on his own time. With nothing to apply his skills toward, it began to feel pointless to study it at all. He'd fallen into that strange grey area of not quite being good enough to form his own business out of it, but too good to be satisfied with amateur projects in the safety of his own laboratory.
Working at the alchemist guild did not appeal to him. Working with a handful of other alchemists he could stand; working with a large team of them drove him crazy. So the Amber Gaze, with its incorporation of Earth tech into its functions, seemed the next best thing.
"Hm, I see..." Lera crossed her arms behind her back, looking Artemis up and down. It was annoying, considering this. "Perhaps something can be arranged. I can see that you're an alchemist--" The armor and the weapon gave it away, really. "What sort of specialties do you have? We have a few areas that we could put you to good use in."
He answered factually, and if he was impressed that she'd managed to guess his guild, he gave no sign of it. (He wasn't. He assumed it was obvious.) "Potions, mechanics, electronics, and programming. The latter half of those are relatively new, of course, but I'd prefer work in those fields to the tedium of professional potion-brewing."
He didn't need to blackmail the Mazda into giving him a comfortable position working in her tech division, but if the potential was there, why squander it?
"I can arrange something, then," Lera said. "We have several projects that could use someone of your skills. Primarily with combining Earth and Zenderean technology -- the specifics of which I am not at liberty to discuss publicly -- but also in programming. We could use someone with that knowledge. However..." She frowned, momentarily. "This will be the last time you ask a favor of me in such a way. Is that clear?"
Combining Earth and Zenderaen technology was a fascinating endeavour and he'd had disappointingly few opportunities for practical use of such ingenuity. That alone made it an enticing prospect. Programming, he'd have to specify when they discussed it in greater detail, would require him to be working under somebody more experienced, but he didn't think that would be an issue.
"I asked nothing of you," he said, looking down to tap a few icons on his phone, waiting to make it seem like he was watching a deletion progress bar. He wasn't. He'd just closed the video and hidden it. It was entirely possible she'd go back on her word once she knew he no longer had any leverage over her. Looking back to her, he pocketed the phone, and continued, "You offered a favour in exchange for a favour, willingly.
"However, you may rest assured that I will ask no favours of you in such a manner." Tricky phrasing; he was saying he wouldn't ask her to do a favour for him in exchange for a favour in return, exactly what she'd offered. "I assume you mean to discuss the details privately at some point in the near future, rather than arranging everything on Market Street in Sidareh."
"As long as that is understood," Lera said. She considered this for a moment longer, then smiled at him. Better to be nice; to feign niceness, in this case. "I do not, no, and I think you would be better served by a hands-on introduction. Can you report to the Nenakret on Thursday? Our headquarters. I will have the technical staff meet with you directly."
She was the Mazda, not an engineer, nor an alchemist.
"Ah, your e-mail," she said. It was an afterthought. "I should like to have it. I think it will make everything considerably easier, including sending you some information."
"I do believe I can manage that," he replied, pulling out a business card to hand it over to her.
Yes, Lera, the Zen-native alchemist was using business cards. Why had nobody in Zen thought of these before! It was so convenient to just be able to hand over all your contact information at once along with a note of what you did.
On that note, his (very well-designed) business card read Artemis Valkyr, with his e-mail and phone number, and a brief information line that identified him as an alchemist with a mechanics and potions specialization. No home/mailing address. Hadn't been necessary when he'd had them printed.
"You're adaptable, I see," Lera said. She took the business card in her hand, looked it over, and then slid it into one of the pouches on her belt. She looked him over for a moment. "Very good, then. I cannot promise that I will meet with you personally there, as my schedule is, ah, quite busy. As you might imagine."
She smiled awkwardly. It was the truth. "Nonetheless, I'll make the appropriate contacts and we'll have the paperwork and legalities handled."
No comment to his adaptability. It spoke for itself.
"Very well," he said, pausing to fuss with his cuffs for a moment before folding his arms. It was an idle animation that had stuck after he'd turned real. "E-mail me once you've designated a time and place, and I shall meet with your contact then."
"Very good," Lera said. She noticed the motion, but really, the significance of it had not stuck out in her mind. "I will do so. It will be Thursday -- ideally early. Do you have quarters in the Nenakret? Due to... current troubles, we may ask you do long hours. Fortunately, engineers and technicians are paid time and a half if we ask them to do overtime. But if you need it, I'll have a room prepared."
He raised an eyebrow at that. Time and a half? As in, paid 150% of their normal rate for working long hours?
That was unheard of here. Maybe it was an Earth thing. Or maybe this Mazda was simply very generous. Either way, he couldn't very well say no to an arrangement like that.
"I live in Khaharet. Accommodations shouldn't be a problem, barring any curfew-related incidents." Khaharet was a sister-city of the Nenakret. It took him less than thirty minutes to walk between them.
'Current troubles.' War-related, he supposed. Safta couldn't stay neutral if Aerveas refused to let it.
The reason was rather more mundane: the French were used to that and their expectations for pay had spread rapidly. The Amber Gaze was hardly able to pay Zendereans according to one schedule and Earthers according to another.
"Ah, splendid, then," Lera said. "Given your work, we can have you escorted home if it overlaps with the curfew."
She smiled at him again. It was a little more genuine. "Well, then, Count Valkyr. I'll leave you to your business and speak with you later." She nodded respectfully to him and waved a hand -- which she promptly scolded herself for, it was so girlish and casual, which might have been endearing in a Fall City office but hardly fit her new image -- and then she turned, walking away from him.
Artemis
Lera
When: Wed, 7/20
Where: Sidareh, a Saftan town
Before/After: N/A
Warnings: None
The new Mazda's inspection of the towns and fortifications along the Saftan borders had a fast pace. It was also relatively quiet, meeting with town leaders and local commanders. The presence of both the Mazda and the Spenta (who proved to be a welcome surprise, especially after an assassination attempt on Monday) meant they wanted to be quiet and make silence a part of their security plan. The town of Sidareh, located on the border, was just one of the stops today.
Lera had done all of the business that she needed to, but the rest of the expedition was eating an early dinner. She had already eaten with the town's elder, which meant that she decided to pass on that dinner and get a look at the town. The notion of evacuating every town in the border had been proposed by Marsal at a meeting. Before she really considered that, she wanted to see the lives of the people she would be disrupting.
This meant that the Mazda was standing seemingly by herself, at the town's small market. It had the basic supplies and some local alchemists selling ingredients. She stopped at one stall, looking over a sheathed dagger and pretending she had interest in it. Really, she was here to think by herself.
The truth, of course, is that she was far from alone. Beyond the townspeople and adventurers that stopped here -- several of whom were milling about the marketplace, though they largely kept a distance from Lera -- ten of the Amber Gaze's guards were posted, watching the Mazda carefully. Monday's assassination attempt was a secret from the populace, but word had spread through the military.
It was moderately annoying, always being watched.
Artemis was in Sidareh on business as well, though nothing so dire as Lera's. He was there to deliver an order of potions, opting to do it personally rather than through Safta's new mail service because it also gave him the opportunity to hunt for components in the area. He liked to minimize the amount of warps he'd be taking at any given time, and when you preferred to gather all your own components, that could get tricky.
He returned to town with a decent supply for his own work, plus a side-collection of things to sell off because he didn't need them. That didn't lead him to the market, because it was wiser to sell those components in a town that wasn't right next to where they were found, but he was on his way through the market to return to the warp mage.
He was dressed in his purple butterfly-inspired leather armour, already wiped clean of any blood, his hair and makeup impeccable as always. He hardly looked like he'd just spent hours killing monsters and carving them up for parts. A potion-belt with a gun holster attached did mark him as someone who meant business, though.
When he walked by Lera, he had to do a double take. He slowed to a stop, turning to look at her again. Yes, that was the girl who'd admonished him for his treatment of Nova at the Solstice party. That was also the girl he'd seen on the news recently who'd announced herself as the new Mazda. He hadn't made the connection until just now.
He still had video footage of her making an idiot of herself on his phone. Hmm.
Lera looked over the dagger for a moment longer, before she politely put it down and said a few thanks to the stall's owner. She turned, starting to walk down the street that led through the market. Her hands slid into her pockets, enjoying the very thin illusion of being anonymous -- she wasn't, of course, wearing the coat of the Mazda, but she wasn't doing anything official, either -- and the brief self-delusion that she was mostly by herself.
Then, she got a good look at Artemis. She noticed him out of the corner of her eye, but she had not remembered him very well thanks to the amount of alcohol in her system. Once she got a good look, two things occurred to her: first, that was the person who acted like an ass at the Solstice. Second, that armor was amazing.
She looked at him for a moment. Was he going to say something? She had no idea. She nodded to him, but she said nothing at first. Maybe he wouldn't recognize her.
The idea seemed silly as soon as she thought it.
Ah, she'd recognized him too. Even acknowledged him.
How mean did he feel like being, today...?
He smiled warmly, moving to approach her, nothing threatening in his demeanour at all. Nothing genuine, either, though he was good at faking that. "I believe we are acquainted. Lera, wasn't it? I wonder how well you remember our first encounter."
Lera remained guarded. It had nothing to do with any particular distrust of Artemis; she did not trust him to be particularly kind, but she doubted he was an assassin, especially one bold enough to strike with spellswords on guard. It had everything to do with an assassination attempt the day before and a mounting sense of stress from the business of the mission. She tilted her head to the side and smiled a small smile.
"We are," she said. She decided it was better to be gracious; she hardly needed a scene out here. "I recall parts of it. I'm afraid I got rather carried away. I owe you an apology for that. I hope no offense was taken."
One eyebrow raised. Did he not know the news of her promotion? Or did he simply not want to acknowledge it? She had riding clothes on; a heavy tunic, baggy pants, and boots. Her coat and uniform were being cleaned after some heavy use.
"None whatsoever," he replied. Actually, enough for him to be talking to her now and considering how best to get back at her. "It wouldn't do to hold a grudge against the new Mazda."
He was familiar with her title. The lack of its use was noted; the problem, of course, was demanding she be called admiral to civilians risked sounding petulant. That had to be earned. "Glad to hear it. Artemis, isn't it?"
"Count Artemis Valkyr, to be precise." His own title was not so impressive as Mazda or Admiral, but it was worth making note of. Even if it wasn't real and apparently had never been. No one else needed to know that.
He took out his phone, flipping through icons to find where it stored captured video. "It's exhausting, having a title, isn't it? There's a constant need to maintain a proper public image. The slightest misstep can create quite the scandal."
Lera's expression grew chilly. She should have known it would go like this.
"What do you want?" she asked.
He looked up from the screen, his face a perfect mask of shocked innocence. "I'm insulted, Lera. Extortion is a rogue's game."
"So it is, Count," Lera said. She frowned at him, then she sighed. Did he have backups of the video? She had to consider what other videos were out there; probably at least a couple of stupid things made it to YouTube. She did a lot of stupid things. Sooner or later, some party she went overboard at would get out. It was delaying the inevitable -- but maybe if the inevitable came after her position wasn't as new, it would be better.
"Suppose the Mazda asked you a favor to delete that video. As, of course, a loyal citizen of Safta." She shrugged her shoulders. "A favor in return seems reasonable. What would that favor be, if the Mazda were to ask?"
A satisfied, catlike smile came to his face. "If I were to do that as a favour to Safta's dear Admiral, I believe the favour I would ask in return is steady work with a generous salary. The dragonmail strike has put quite a damper on private business, you understand."
It wasn't that Artemis had any particularly burning desire to work for the Amber Gaze, but he realized he was stagnating researching Earth-based tech on his own time. With nothing to apply his skills toward, it began to feel pointless to study it at all. He'd fallen into that strange grey area of not quite being good enough to form his own business out of it, but too good to be satisfied with amateur projects in the safety of his own laboratory.
Working at the alchemist guild did not appeal to him. Working with a handful of other alchemists he could stand; working with a large team of them drove him crazy. So the Amber Gaze, with its incorporation of Earth tech into its functions, seemed the next best thing.
"Hm, I see..." Lera crossed her arms behind her back, looking Artemis up and down. It was annoying, considering this. "Perhaps something can be arranged. I can see that you're an alchemist--" The armor and the weapon gave it away, really. "What sort of specialties do you have? We have a few areas that we could put you to good use in."
He answered factually, and if he was impressed that she'd managed to guess his guild, he gave no sign of it. (He wasn't. He assumed it was obvious.) "Potions, mechanics, electronics, and programming. The latter half of those are relatively new, of course, but I'd prefer work in those fields to the tedium of professional potion-brewing."
He didn't need to blackmail the Mazda into giving him a comfortable position working in her tech division, but if the potential was there, why squander it?
"I can arrange something, then," Lera said. "We have several projects that could use someone of your skills. Primarily with combining Earth and Zenderean technology -- the specifics of which I am not at liberty to discuss publicly -- but also in programming. We could use someone with that knowledge. However..." She frowned, momentarily. "This will be the last time you ask a favor of me in such a way. Is that clear?"
Combining Earth and Zenderaen technology was a fascinating endeavour and he'd had disappointingly few opportunities for practical use of such ingenuity. That alone made it an enticing prospect. Programming, he'd have to specify when they discussed it in greater detail, would require him to be working under somebody more experienced, but he didn't think that would be an issue.
"I asked nothing of you," he said, looking down to tap a few icons on his phone, waiting to make it seem like he was watching a deletion progress bar. He wasn't. He'd just closed the video and hidden it. It was entirely possible she'd go back on her word once she knew he no longer had any leverage over her. Looking back to her, he pocketed the phone, and continued, "You offered a favour in exchange for a favour, willingly.
"However, you may rest assured that I will ask no favours of you in such a manner." Tricky phrasing; he was saying he wouldn't ask her to do a favour for him in exchange for a favour in return, exactly what she'd offered. "I assume you mean to discuss the details privately at some point in the near future, rather than arranging everything on Market Street in Sidareh."
"As long as that is understood," Lera said. She considered this for a moment longer, then smiled at him. Better to be nice; to feign niceness, in this case. "I do not, no, and I think you would be better served by a hands-on introduction. Can you report to the Nenakret on Thursday? Our headquarters. I will have the technical staff meet with you directly."
She was the Mazda, not an engineer, nor an alchemist.
"Ah, your e-mail," she said. It was an afterthought. "I should like to have it. I think it will make everything considerably easier, including sending you some information."
"I do believe I can manage that," he replied, pulling out a business card to hand it over to her.
Yes, Lera, the Zen-native alchemist was using business cards. Why had nobody in Zen thought of these before! It was so convenient to just be able to hand over all your contact information at once along with a note of what you did.
On that note, his (very well-designed) business card read Artemis Valkyr, with his e-mail and phone number, and a brief information line that identified him as an alchemist with a mechanics and potions specialization. No home/mailing address. Hadn't been necessary when he'd had them printed.
"You're adaptable, I see," Lera said. She took the business card in her hand, looked it over, and then slid it into one of the pouches on her belt. She looked him over for a moment. "Very good, then. I cannot promise that I will meet with you personally there, as my schedule is, ah, quite busy. As you might imagine."
She smiled awkwardly. It was the truth. "Nonetheless, I'll make the appropriate contacts and we'll have the paperwork and legalities handled."
No comment to his adaptability. It spoke for itself.
"Very well," he said, pausing to fuss with his cuffs for a moment before folding his arms. It was an idle animation that had stuck after he'd turned real. "E-mail me once you've designated a time and place, and I shall meet with your contact then."
"Very good," Lera said. She noticed the motion, but really, the significance of it had not stuck out in her mind. "I will do so. It will be Thursday -- ideally early. Do you have quarters in the Nenakret? Due to... current troubles, we may ask you do long hours. Fortunately, engineers and technicians are paid time and a half if we ask them to do overtime. But if you need it, I'll have a room prepared."
He raised an eyebrow at that. Time and a half? As in, paid 150% of their normal rate for working long hours?
That was unheard of here. Maybe it was an Earth thing. Or maybe this Mazda was simply very generous. Either way, he couldn't very well say no to an arrangement like that.
"I live in Khaharet. Accommodations shouldn't be a problem, barring any curfew-related incidents." Khaharet was a sister-city of the Nenakret. It took him less than thirty minutes to walk between them.
'Current troubles.' War-related, he supposed. Safta couldn't stay neutral if Aerveas refused to let it.
The reason was rather more mundane: the French were used to that and their expectations for pay had spread rapidly. The Amber Gaze was hardly able to pay Zendereans according to one schedule and Earthers according to another.
"Ah, splendid, then," Lera said. "Given your work, we can have you escorted home if it overlaps with the curfew."
She smiled at him again. It was a little more genuine. "Well, then, Count Valkyr. I'll leave you to your business and speak with you later." She nodded respectfully to him and waved a hand -- which she promptly scolded herself for, it was so girlish and casual, which might have been endearing in a Fall City office but hardly fit her new image -- and then she turned, walking away from him.