Private Conversations with the Lady

[soulspice]

[Welcome to the Lady's...not home far from home, but it's a place she tolerates. The moment you enter it's clear she did her best to make this office in the bookstore a place she approves.

Outfitted with an overly plush chair on a rather elaborate rug, the desk is overflowing with countless books stacked everywhere, with everything serving as a makeshift bookshelf including an errant fax machine. The Lady seems to have tried her best to make the amenities up to her standards: there’s a tray with a teapot, notes everywhere written with confusing ciphers, and what seems to be an attempt to make a generator, but wasn’t completed.

Where the Lady sits it’s far more orderly, facing the door and giving her the high ground against anyone who enters. On the far wall hangs a large portrait of the Lady, adding character and additional charm. Truly, this is the office of someone who wants you to feel small before her presence.

And, there on her chair, there she is. When the door opened she turned her head towards you, seeing who it was. Invariably of who it is, she sighs like this is a big interruption of her work, and keeps writing and drawing]

Don't touch anything and make sure you don't track mud in. If you have any complaints go see Rembrandt.

[She didn't even look up while saying that. So, what brings you to her office today?]

Comments

[soulspice]

Have you considered that perhaps our barriers work different than the ones you're familiar with?

[Never be sorry about Cumore, haha! That seems to be the answer for this]

[drydrown]

I have, but I doubt they would be a subtle thing if they're covering that much ground. It would take a fairly large energy source, wouldn't it...? Unless your castle is something like our Sword Stair, where the building is the energy source, but even so...

[Like, shit would be huge?]

[soulspice]

While it's true something encompassing the entirety of Krakow would need a lot of energy, it's not unheard of. After all, when you do have a large and strong source of energy, it's not impossible.

[Sounds a lot like she's admitting she would have a source of energy, even if it's not electricity]

[drydrown]

...Please tell me it's something a little less horrifying than "the souls of the damned."

[He's never seen anything like that, granted, but he wouldn't put it past you guys?

admittedly he only hasn't seen it because he did not live long enough into his canon to see it, given that alexei dinoia is a weird, weird man]

[soulspice]

Depends who you ask. In my opinion, it's more horrifying. I'd ask for your opinion about it but I believe that'd be a little too much information.

[Haha!]

[drydrown]

Ah, going to play coy again with me...? I see, I see.

[He is so outwardly flippant and internally wanting to go scream into his hands or throw another tantrum in the milk bar or maybe both.]

Well, I'll definitely be looking forward to hearing it eventually. If it's not souls and it isn't blastia, I'm highly curious about what it might be.

[soulspice]

Believe me when I say you won't ever guess what it is.

[She sounds so smug about that]

[drydrown]

Be careful not to set the bar for my expectations too high - I do hate being disappointed.

[...hmm...]

Even if you answer this next question in the affirmative, I'll never tell because the idea of someone doing that to themselves is hilarious. But I'm curious about what happens if we take your little evidence-in-a-box offer at some point - my first theory is that we'll become one of those things that was watching us in the audience. If not right away, then it'll start us down that road rather quickly.

Am I on the right track, or will you do something else to us entirely?

[soulspice]

[Let's hope the reveal at some point of the game will be up to Cumore's expectations, haha!

The Lady nods right away]

Of course you're on the right track. If I had the chance, you'd have seen right away any similarities. Unfortunately, darling, nobody took the offer. What am I supposed to do with a huge scrap of bloody jacket now?

[Oh, but she digresses]

But yes, you're correct, in part. Turning any of you into that in such a short span of time is impossible, though.

[drydrown]

I'm honestly disappointed that that horrid prosecutor didn't take the offer. If anyone was going to, it would have been him, and he would have deserved it.

I do appreciate being told, however, especially since I'm never going to take it. No offense meant, but I've no interest in mutilating myself. Surely you understand.

[soulspice]

I did expect him to take it. I'm truly disappointed none of those who love to brag about how 'good and on the side of law' they are don't put anything on the line.

[Oh, she understands, Cumore. She wouldn't take such offers no matter what, if she was in your position]

[drydrown]

That's the problem with those sorts - they love to talk, to offer up their utopian ramblings and their speeches from on high atop the moral high ground. As though any of that means anything...? It's infuriating, especially when you saw it just as well as I did - when it comes time to actually do something about it, to ensure that they're correct and their precious "justice" will be served, they won't do it any more than the rest of us.

At least you're not pretending to be ethically sound in all of this.

[soulspice]

When you have morality it's so much easier to strike at you. If it wasn't because somehow those with that 'good guy' philosophy win almost the time I'd think it's the stupidest thing ever.

[drydrown]

They tend to win far less where I'm from. Believe me, it's refreshing to see them get what they deserve on the end.

[soulspice]

[The Lady crosses her arms and harrumphs]

You lucky fool...

[Why can't she be from a world where the good guys get their asses kicked more often? At least her life would be much easier that way!]

Well I'm going to change that for my world. Once I return there after being done here I will win!

[But it's a work in progress]

[drydrown]

So your efforts aren't exactly appreciated where you come from, I take it...? And now you get to deal with all of us here. Truly, you suffer.

[soulspice]

[EVery time she speaks to you she feels so slighted, pal]

Of course they aren't appreciated. They're fools who don't know what's good for them. They act as if I'm the only one who takes over territories, or as if those bunch of hypocrites wouldn't have exterminated forty-three important nobles houses at the first chance they got. I'm just the one who's been successful.

[And that's with the good guys getting victories over her. If the good guys lost just a little bit more often, she'd have won so long ago, Cumore]

[drydrown]

[I mean. Likewise, in fairness. ...That said, that's interesting. Hm.]

Well, I draw the line at exterminating the nobility, but that's likely for obvious reasons.

[CUMORE...]

The Empire, fortunately enough, seems to have handled that entire inconvenient "conquest" problem for me. We own everything that we aren't graciously allowing the Guild vermin to occupy at the moment. But the Guilds are easily crushed, and the Empire is only as strong as the one commanding it.

It really is a shame that ambition isn't recognized more often. It would make life much more rewarding, much quicker.

[soulspice]

When everyone below you is unquestionably in your grip, you can let them play around and do what they want. That's how all good empires are formed. Yours is an example to follow.

[She means that, really. Mostly because she aims to do pretty much the same thing]

[drydrown]

I'm flattered, genuinely.

[...her approval still does not fill him with shame. it probably should, all things considered? but it does not.]

I would be entirely behind your particular sort of ambition, you know. Unfortunately, you decided to bring me here to die, so I don't know what to tell you.

What was it, if you don't mind, that I had that Alexei lacked? It's been bothering me a bit lately.

[soulspice]

Flexibility. While he is competent, I judged he lacked flexibility. He's too entrenched into his own goals and therefore nothing would change his mind. That would be just bothersome to deal with.

[What she doesn't say is that also she judged Alexei could become too powerful of an opponent because of that lack of flexibility. She couldn't risk getting him anywhere close to her plans. Cumore, on the other hand, had lots of ambition but she judged him a far safer choice for her plans]

You have the right ambition and the capacity to use power well but you're not tied by the shackles of your own ideology. That makes you far more promising than Alexei would ever be -- not for this ordeal, but for the future, for what comes beyond it. [She shrugs] I'm not saying I'm determined to recruiting you, but I do have been considering it from time to time.

[Even though Cumore's way of talking to her frustrates her sometimes, hah]

I will admit some of you were brought here randomly and without much thought, but others, like you, got my attention.

[drydrown]

[...

wh

what

i mean he gets that alexei is kind of so far up his own ass he's wearing himself as a hat but on the other hand he wouldn't exactly say alexei is entrenched in his own goals because uh

what

what goals

like are we talking the "help the poor people" thing because that's fucking stupid but he doesn't see how that particularly opposes anything here unless you're literally feeding the poor to rembrandt

are...are we talking the "make peace with the guilds" thing because that's also fucking stupid but like...are you...feeding the guilds to rembrandt...

oh my god he is a shitty midboss who died before alexei had his fucking villainous breakdown all over the game and so he has no fucking idea what she's talking about

um

...RIGHT, ANYWAY, ]

It's good to know that your taste in people is good, then. I can't imagine Alexei standing up to the incentives very well either, to be honest - far too much of a bleeding heart for that.

[soulspice]

Do you think it's likely someone would have targeted him to kill him, if he were around?

[Oh, feel free to shittalk Alexei if you'd like to, Cumore. The Lady sure wouldn't mind]

[drydrown]

...I doubt it. He's good at endearing himself to people somehow. A good amount of the knights love him; he's popular with the commoners. And so on.

[Mm.]

I imagine he would try to kill someone and not succeed at getting away with it, actually.