The Silver Hotel, The VIP Lounge
17 hours ago, EmBark said:Pako floated an inch off the ground, but his figure looked somewhat hunched, bent into a position as if he were sitting and with his tail curving behind him and downwards as if it were his seat. Arriving at the hotel lounge, he gave a nod and gesture of acknowledgement of the Biarbu who appeared to serve as maitre d'.
"Greetings, this one." He began, checking the Biarbu's nametag. "Senore Ben Ying. I am most pleased with your reception. Indeed, you have identified me correctly. Can I thus presume I have a reputation that precedes me? Wherefore, I wonder."
He follows Ben Ying to the booths, looking left and right and up to take in the surroundings of the lounge. At least there seemed to be plenty of space for even the tallest llort with the largest horns to fly here. Perhaps that was because the Biarbu were--at least by appearances--an avian species. Pako grumbled in approval.
"A fine establishment indeed. What is the etiquette regarding the use of the booths? I find myself at once in need of a seat and also of enjoyable company. My student is in the casino and will not be joining me soon. Might you have any suggestions?"
"Here at the Silver Hotel, and elsewhere in Shiwa Yun, we keep watch on all things..." Ben Ying pauses, and for a moment, it's as though that is the end of the sentence, then it continues, "...interesting."
"So your reputation first came to those who collate such data from the time spent in the Elven Conclave a few years ago. We receive regular reports on such individuals every few years, as it is a struggle to keep up to date information without local aid," The hotel owner actually does pause here and off the Flightmaster a significant look. How Pako chooses to interpret this is up to him.
"As to your inquiries regarding etiquette within the booths," the black plumed Biarbu points at the buttons on the table, "this closes off the booth for sound dampening. It's not perfect, as shouting will still create some noise, but for quiet conversations, it will be you, those sitting in the booth, and the table. And the table won't be revealing any secrets. This button will signal the servers to come inquire about refreshments, while the one opposite it will decline further service while it is active; any non-staff member whom gets too close to the booth while this has been pressed will be politely encouraged to move along, and staff members won't be staying close either or they will no longer be staff members."
"As for enjoyable company. That depends on the kind you are looking for. Polite discussion, or - as your student is occupied and you find yourself free of their gaze - perhaps something more... intimate? This one assures you, we do not judge."
15 hours ago, The Snark said:"By all means," Rhonda says, before Todd can muster any kind of response. "We're pleased to accept your hospitality. Should your employer happen to have a spare moment in their schedule, we'd be honored to speak with them in person."
As the Biarbu leads them towards a booth, the two share a brief wordless conversation: raised-eyebrow-meaningful-glance-grimace-nod-eyeroll-shrug. Todd falls back half a step to let his partner lead the way.
Bowchi Juh bows, and leads Rhonda and her bodyguard to an unoccupied booth. "It may be some time, madam, before the hotel owner is free, but when they are, this one is sure they will be more than pleased to speak with you as well. Until then, please order drinks for yourself and your entourage; on the house, we insist."
Again bowing, Juh gives a careful nod to Rhonda's bodyguard before saying, "And please honored guest, do be careful with the smoke. We would not want to disturb others enjoyment of this day."
Later...
Ben Ying was busier than planned, but in a good way. This gathering of important individuals was amusing, to say the least. And now, they would speak with Rhonda 49199. An investigative celebrity in recent years. Yes, more gatherings like this would be needed in the future, if only for the break from the tedium.
Arriving at Rhonda's booth, Ben Ying tapped politely on the privacy screen; whether it was active or not, it didn't matter. Decorum required politeness. "This one is Ben Ying, a humble hotel owner. We are given to understand you wished to speak with us, Sister Rhonda? Oh, and is that Brother Todd this one sees there as well? We did not receive a very good picture of him in our gathering of reports, so do forgive this Biarbu if we have misidentified you. Our information has Brother Todd as... much taller."
1 hour ago, Kythia said:Iago flashes his eyebrows, impressed by the technological privacy measures. Nice, we just hide behind a tree and everyone pretends they can't hear us. He sips his drink slowly and thinks through the message.
Coedd's areas of interest and the Biarbu's seem to align. You are spreading the word of Fascination while cultists spread the word of Coedd. You've opened the Golden Pheonix while we have the he takes a deep breath and mumbles the next bit, hopefully too fast to hear Super Secret Coedd Spying Base It was funny to them, certainly, but utterly mortifying now he had to say it out loud in a serious conversation. He sips his drink again, letting a pause hopefully killing off some of the impression doubtlessly left by the name. And it seems we might be evenly matched if we were to clash, sapping both our resources. Now. Coedd has no interest in Tekhum outside of Coedd, outside of Sansar. As far as we can tell, the Biarbu have no presence on Sansar. We wanted to initially propose a...a mutual non-inteference treaty. Coedd will not seek to establish its power outside Sansar, the Biarbu will not seek to establish theirs on Sansar.
If that were agreeable, we would also propose an expansion - that on the rare occasions when Coedd wishes to operate outside Sansar for whatever reason the Biarbu perform what is needed and vice versa. This is, to be clear, an addition to the original offer of mutual exlcusion and can be rejected seperately.
Ben Ying leaned in closer to the table, wingtips tapping upon it like human fingers might. "Allow me to see if this one understands the proposal of the Coedd: You wish the Biarbu to stay off Sansar, and in return, Coedd will remain solidly on the planet, seeking to establish and maintain it's power only on the planet. And in the instances where this is not true, we would utilize each other's abilities, instead of tripping over the other."
"If that is the sum of it, it does sound appealing." The black plumed Biarbu beings to slowly nod in thought, almost agreeing. "What of instances where we are invited? To be clear: this invitation would be different than a simple party like we find ourselves in now. No, this one means if an Elect allows the... visit?"
"Also, all of non-Sansar is quite a bit of territory. We appreciate that the Coedd can see how our two Fates are similar, but if this agreement binds the Biarbu to always do whatever the Coedd wish when the Coedd desires to act outside Sansar, then instead of a boon, this becomes a bane. We instead suggest a first-right of refusal for both parties. The offer to do the work is the important part. If accepted, the other party will complete the desired job. If rejected, it also constitutes permission to work outside the bounds of this agreement, so long as we retain non-interference."
Black Bird, Table 1a, Casino Floor
Sha Ren again reclaimed the cards, and shuffled the deck, before dealing out a hand to each player. Once more, they bowed and tapped the table with their beak.
In front of them were two cards, one face down.
BlackBirdDealer
The face up card was the 3️⃣ of edicts. There would be at least one more card drawn, possibly two.