Emerald Falcon

Ialai swirled the colourful liquid in her cup - she had downgraded to a yellow after some consideration - and pondered the situation. Perhaps she was hallucinating the oiled creature, or its prismatic sheen, but it had some interesting things to say. ”Jasnah, dear. I should think that keeping Amaram in the palace might benefit us if he could be persuaded to find a different target. If someone were to have a suicidal wincon... well, that would all work out nicely, wouldn’t it? And I’m sure that someone besides your dark-skinned friend who you seem so fond of has crossed Meridas at least once.”

“I understand if you condemn me for my actions. I have suffered terribly because of them.”

I’m going to come out and say it: I know who killed Torol. I did. Let me explain. At the beginning of this turn, with the conclusion of my passive wincon (avoid any actions taken against me), I got a new directive: to kill any individual. I chose a target, and got some help. However, I got redirected, and my action killed Torol instead. I would like to emphasise that I bear no ill will towards anyone here - not even the person I originally targeted. Torol’s death, while a tradgedy, still fulfills my wincon, and as a result I will not be targeting anyone else. I would also ask that people should not vote against me, as I have received my just deserts as a result of my actions and pose no threat to anyone else. Although I am understandably frustrated by the event, I do not blame the redirector either as it is likely they had no idea of what would occur. Torol was one of my closest allies and collaborators, and his demise was an accident. I shared this information because I believed that I could trust others to make the right decision in light of these events. I hope I am right.

“In that case, Wit, you have a lot more work to do.”

Ialai was concerned by recent events. An ambassador getting killed was unusual, but not unbelievable given the congregation of Rosharans. Not every country was at peace with each other, and some might use a night like this to further their own goals. An attack on a Brightlady, however, in the very same hour as the first murder... that raised some questions.

As the timestream began to accelerate, Ialai considered Prince Elhokar’s offer. It seemed... interesting.

Ialai experimentally tossed a sphere in the air and watched it slow as it left her hand, worming upwards at a much more sluggish rate. An interesting phenomenon. Perhaps she was drunk, hallucinating. A rare occurrence for her. It hadn’t happened often, even during nights of reverie. And Ialai hadn’t drunk that much - had she? Nevertheless, she considered throwing something at Wit, as it would make less of a spectacle while achieving the same effect, and decided against it. Instead, she plucked the now falling sphere out of the air and began to stride towards the others.

"Of course, my King," Ialai said smoothly. "We would be glad to assist in your search."

Ialai agreed. “Liss has caused no end of harm.”

"It's an agreeable arrangement," said Ialai. "The commoners don't antagonize the royalty, and the royalty don't chop off the commoner's heads. Works for both sides." She wrinkled her nose at the animal droppings. Tearim appeared to be doing a valiant effort to clear the hall of the animals, and she had half a mind to applaud him. Eventually, though, the stench and commotion had caused her to have enough. "Can someone get these chulls out of here?"

Ialai frowned. “We have both been close friends with many of the Kholins. Our accusation of Adolin was in self defence when we realised that he was plotting to kill someone, and we were mistakenly told it was Torol.”

Ialai scowled at a passing chull, as if her piercing gaze would somehow drop it dead. The animal bleated and began to shamble in a different direction, trampling a chair. The wood cracked beneath a massive foot. “Great,” she said. “Wit brought some of his friends.” But, for all her pretended concern about the chaos within the hall, she knew that it was her inner turmoil that made her on edge. They had received faulty information - that meant someone was lying to them. And, amongst it all, people had been planning to murder. Now, Ialai was not above such things, but never had she tried to kill someone herself. She got other people to do it. And, to further muddy the waters, someone else appeared to be lying as well. How much of what they said could be trusted from now on? How much of anything anyone said could be trusted? Ialai hoped to get to the bottom of it soon. Because when everyone was lying, you couldn’t be sure of who was planning to stab you in the back.

“So it’s all right for people to plan murder, but heaven forbid someone lets the authorities know! That way, we might actually have a safe and trustworthy society!” Ialai adjusted her hair, and continued. “As far as I am aware, you did not reconsider your plan until the votes started flying. That in itself is a pretty big condemnation, let alone planning to revert to murder instead of using diplomacy.”

“He hasn’t done anything,” said Ialai, “but plot to murder a defenceless Beggar, then his own father, then accuse a Brightlady, his cousin, of sabotaging the treaty to save himself. They are now attempting to kill the person who revealed, at significant risk to themselves, their deception. That seems to threaten the court’s stability a little more, I should think.”

“Tearim,” said Ialai, “I think you should find it more concerning that Adolin may have been plotting to kill either Torol, one of Gavilar’s closest allies, or his own father. We should put Alethkar’s safety first, and the fact that Adolin has been confirmed to be planning for so long to kill his target instead of using diplomacy shows that he is a threat to all of us. We have no proof that his group changed their mind about the attack - in fact, we have opposite proof from a member of their own. I will therefore continue to hold my vote against Adolin.”

“He appears to devote a lot of time to it.” Ialai raised her hands to draw attention. “Whether Aesudan was responsible for the attempt on Klade is neither here not there for now. I and others have voted on Adolin as we are concerned about the way he was approaching his goals. We received multiple reports that he planned to kill someone this cycle. I believe that Klade is unlikely to be attacked again as it would be hard to muster an appropriate following for two turns in a row, and I have yet to see evidence that proves that Aesudan was involved. For the sake of Torol, we must ostracise Adolin until he can come to his bearings.”

“I agree with these claims,” said Ialai. “I have seen the evidence for myself, and Adolin Kholin is the culprit.”

Ialai stopped another smile as Wit left once again. It appeared Aesudan had a sharp tongue and mind, enough to match his. She would have to remember that, as she suspected that the Prince’s wife was often politically underestimated. “A shame, indeed. Sometimes I wonder why King Gavilar fond enough to keep him, given how much he slanders his family and allies. How long can he possibly meddle with things? No matter. But the feast is going well, thank you.”