Task II: Death and Decorum

Task II: Death and Decorum

Postby Guppy » Fri Aug 23, 2013 2:20 pm

The creature had been looking forward to this task, if It were being honest with Itself. Most of the assignments that Giuseppe had given her were bothersome. In Catch's case, she was dreading the undertaking of attempting to separate the man from his horn. Catch was not necessarily the most sane of men and even the Dark One seemed concerned for her safety when he had given her orders. Catch was not the sort to usually draw her attention, but the pure energy of Life that he gave off made her nostalgic. He, in turn, was in awe of the aura of Death surrounding both her, and to a lesser extent, the girl she inhabited. This woman, this Agnieszka Kaczmarek, was said to taste of death as well, for some reason. Giuseppe seemed almost perplexed by that and so, he sent a creature who bathed in entropy and decay on a regular basis to ascertain anything she could about the other woman. Those who stared death in the face and lived, in whatever form that yielded, to tell the tale were so few in number. The creature was uncertain what she would do when confronted by one of her own. Would she betray Giuseppe and his Lady so quickly to aid this woman? Would she end the other's unlife in order to be a singular entity? It wagered the only way to know was to confront the issue.

And so, It made It's way through the darkened, silent streets of the city It called home with every caution. It did not wish to be seen, for people would start talking if the whelp was seen entering too many places she shouldn't. That was information that the creature would not want getting back to the whelp. Not because It disliked these small betrayals, but because it would be irritating to listen to the girl's whining questions. At least, that it what It told Itself. Not to mention that a certain amount of covert activities would ease this attack on multiple fronts.

Still, It mounted the steps to Agnie's new office with a certain amount of giddiness not often displayed. There was no doubt that the woman would be within these hallowed halls. The position was new, steeped in conflict, and fraught with danger. Anyone who hoped to keep their head would work to insure that they stayed one step ahead. The creature moved on until it could rap smartly upon the woman's door. It waited, eagerly, chill radiating from her form.
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Re: Task II: Death and Decorum

Postby channe » Sat Aug 24, 2013 3:31 am

The door to the Meetinghouse is answered by a young constable; a young-ish boy only a few years into his career, tasked with the unenviable night shift. He takes a long look at the girl, shudders a bit in his shoulders, and then lifts his chin to reply.

"The Meetinghouse is closed right now," he says. "Come back tomorrow."
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Re: Task II: Death and Decorum

Postby Guppy » Sun Aug 25, 2013 2:14 am

The creature clad in the pretty young woman's body straightened as she saw the young man who answered her summons. Mouth curled into a smile and she lofted a brow as he informed her, his tone of voice no-nonsense, that the Meetinghouse had closed for the day. She leaned in a little to make certain that her assets were on display.

"Ah, but the Vice-Governor is in though, is she not?," she nearly purred, the chill seeping around them and grasping him with icy fingers. "I've been sent by the High Inquisitor Giuseppe and it would not do to have him cross with you," she advised, her voice warning. There was a hint, a small hint, of danger within her tone. "He is such a hard man these days."

The flirting vanished as the creature tired of it. "Tell her that she has a guest." She paused, waiting for him to leap into activity. "Now, boy."
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Re: Task II: Death and Decorum

Postby channe » Sun Aug 25, 2013 9:03 am

And at the name of Giuseppe? He leaps, and disappears into the depths with a quick "Oh," and a "Just step into the parlor, please," throwing his hand carelessly towards the front room, where a number of chairs and small tables are set up. A minute or two later, he appears again with the aforementioned Vice-Governor.

She's wearing an austere dress in dark blue and black, high-collared and well-made, with near-invisible seams and the barest of beading at the neck. Her dark Dauntless hair is drawn up, and there's something seething in her eyes. She nods to the constable to take a post by the parlor entrance, and looks the young woman up and down. "You're the second envoy from Giuseppe this week. Apparently, he can't do his own business like a normal person. What do you need so late?"
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Re: Task II: Death and Decorum

Postby Guppy » Sun Aug 25, 2013 10:27 am

Well now, that name did wonders, didn't it? Opened doors with the utmost of ease. The boy scampered away and the creature smiled, the door left ajar for her. A booted toe came to nudge it open further. It eased open with a creak of its hinges. Arms outstretched, one palm curled around each edge of the frame as if she were going to climb within. She leered at the boy before she moved forward and into the parlor where he directed her.

She was seated at one of the tables, one with the most comfortable chairs. She was slouched, the chair leaning back on its rear two legs so that she could kick her feet up. Ankles were crossed and her head was tilted back to peer up at the ceiling. The very picture of sullen rebellion. She teetered there precariously and awaited the other woman. When Agnie appeared in her very fine clothing and her very fine hairstyle, the monster within her parlor smirked at her. The forelimbs of the chair sounded sharply in the silent room as she dropped forward. Feet were removed from the table and the creature rose to the young woman's petite height.

The emotion, the fury, in the other woman's eyes was looked upon with delighted mirth. Hands clasped behind her back in formal manner. One finger drummed upon the others as she peered at the powerful woman. Death and decay radiated from the woman standing so casually there. "Yes, well." She lifted one hand to shelter her mouth from view of others as she revealed a little secret. "I do think that the man dislikes getting his hands dirty," she admitted, her voice lowered in a harsh whisper.

"I have been told, my dear, that you are much too interesting a person to avoid." She offered her hand in greeting, grinning widely. "I also have it on good authority that you have been a naughty girl." She clucked her tongue in reproach.
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Re: Task II: Death and Decorum

Postby channe » Sun Aug 25, 2013 11:38 pm

A moment to look her over once again, and then: a twist to her lips. "Listen, whoever you are," she says, raising her eyebrows, "it's five past crack-thirty, and I have work to do. If you just wanted to come gawk at me, you can do it tomorrow. I'm going to the market at ten and I have it on good authority that there's gonna be a lot of people there to gawk. And you don't get to say things like that to me."

Been a naughty girl? Inside, Agnie seethes; it shows in her eyes as she turns her back on Noura and waves at the constable, moving to walk back down the hallway without so much as a 'good day.' She's been nauseous for days, and this little encounter has only continued the storm in her stomach; no matter what she does, she thinks -- no matter what she wears, or does, or accomplishes, nobody's ever going to see her as more than a girl with a kitchen knife. Nobody but Aleksei, nobody but her family. And that? Just one of many reasons why she never should have left Razasan, she thinks.
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Re: Task II: Death and Decorum

Postby Guppy » Tue Aug 27, 2013 4:20 am

The hand was offered and ignored by the Vice-Governor. The creature reclaimed it with a flash of white teeth. "Oh my dear. I am not here to gawk like the masses. They are ever so ordinary and we, my friend. We are not," she finished, moving to plop down in her chair again. She tipped her head back to peer at the ceiling again. Considering the pattern held there as if it were altogether more interest than the woman who shared the same space that she did.

A low, husky bubble of laughter at the hissed complaint about how It spoke to her. "You have no real power. You are aware of that? Giuseppe and his demented little Lady hold all the cards. You've been gone too long and you have too much to do to catch up. You're not playing with a full hand, my darling." The creature's voice was knowledgeable, was so certain. It's voice held contempt when It spoke of the Lady, of Rhaena. "I would not think that you would so quickly turn away an ally in the High Inquisitor's good graces."

"Besides, we share a certain kinship. Death is a harsh mistress, isn't she?," she questioned, voice raised as she smiled at the young constable. It was a moment designed to bring curiosity. "The ordinary people do not like their dead walking about, do you?," she asked the young man. There was a threat within her voice. A threat to spread the word of her ... defect.
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Re: Task II: Death and Decorum

Postby channe » Tue Aug 27, 2013 5:01 am

She doesn't shake hands. She never shakes hands. A pause, as one of those bare hands supports her weight against the column, and she turns back to face the girl. "What the feck do you know?" she says. Her eyes darken; her voice quiets. This is the farmgirl, not the nascent politician. "All of you, I'm sick of all of you comin' in from God knows where and wrappin' your fingers around people's throats an' misleadin' them. I don't ally myself with folk who threaten me, an' if I don't have so much power in the first place... why do you even care?" That last bit, honey-sweet, and telling.
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Re: Task II: Death and Decorum

Postby Guppy » Tue Aug 27, 2013 6:36 am

The creature smiled as the accent slipped into the other's voice. "Careful, my dear. Your breeding is showing," she teased, assuming that the woman was not as prim and proper as Rhaena Burnie, from her accent and her 'all of you'. "All of us? Us monsters? Well, you should have thought of that before you got into politics. Rhaena is a pretty one, but she is still a tyrant. Giuseppe has a soul as dark as mine and he is very clever. Don't you tell him, lest he boast of it to others, though," she mused.

Why did she care? Why did she care?

She smiled. "I care because you are the first to actually stand up publicly. Treadwell trembles under his bed full of I mustn'ts and don'ts. The others are children and have no real power. Yours is limited, but it is one voice that may not be suppressed completely. You are in the spotlight. You are Vice-Governor, at the least. No small feat and far beyond what the others have managed." The creature shrugged It's shoulders and stared with her deep, dark eyes. "You can not be content with just that, though. You need more. There is blood in the water, though, Mistress Vice-Governor. The Lady has her chained beast. You need one to match."

Apparently, she was offering her services.
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Re: Task II: Death and Decorum

Postby channe » Tue Aug 27, 2013 7:04 am

"I don't care if my breeding is showing. I ain't no stooge." And, indeed, that's half the reason why she's here. Did farm-girl, blood-handed Agnieszka Kaczmarek really think she'd make a good politician? No. In essence, she was a figurehead for Glenn Burnie that anyone with a dream could make it, and she's a similar figurehead here, an ill-bred beacon for those who have realized something's going on. But she'll at least listen to the woman, and then cant her head to the side --

-- "Listen. I still think there's a way out of this without innocent people gettin' hurt. And I'm tired of that." Innocent people. Jozef. "And as... kind," she says, the word emphasized, "as you are to offer, if you come on behalf o' Giuseppe and then offer your help as someone who ain't under his thumb, I just don't know what to think. I --" Another pause. Constance. "And I'm not a monster. Don't you dare ever say that to me."
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Re: Task II: Death and Decorum

Postby Guppy » Tue Aug 27, 2013 11:11 pm

The smile upon the creature's face was patient and frozen into place. "I'm certain you have been in contact with many others who seek the Lady's downfall through subtler means. I suspect most of the Inquisitors are huddled down, keeping their noses clean, but working to protect the people," she remarked, tracing designs in the wood of the table. She considered the spot she traced with casual indifference.

"Besides, Giuseppe is not your enemy. Not really. The man is a mercenary. She must hold something over him to keep him exactly where he is. Should that information be gleaned, well. You might very well be able to coax him away," she admitted. "Though I can hardly speak for the man."

The woman's distaste of monsters made the woman shrug. "I am. Your death and rebirth mean that you are exactly what most of these people consider a monster." The creature rose and moved towards the other woman, considering her from a relatively nonthreatening distance. "You should probably keep that hidden." There was a growing power in the room, a low burn. Seeking. "Tell me, how did you die?"
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Re: Task II: Death and Decorum

Postby channe » Thu Aug 29, 2013 4:57 am

"I saved a man's life. Took a dagger for him," Agnieszka says carefully, one hand going to twist the loose fabric hanging around one thin wrist. "That's the only way it can happen. The power of God saved me, the bright power of God, and that's all I know."

Not exactly true, of course; there is what Glenn Burnie knew, and what Aleksei knows, but that is for them to hold in their hearts, not for this seeking, untrustworthy stranger. "But it's me. I haven't changed one bit. And are you saying that... that you could find out Rhaena has on Giuseppe?"
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Re: Task II: Death and Decorum

Postby Guppy » Thu Aug 29, 2013 1:44 pm

Both brows lofted as the woman revealed how she had died, rather unexpectedly. It wasn't the entire truth, but it was more than the creature expected to be granted. "How noble," she remarked, without any trace of sarcasm. Surprisingly. Those quick eyes caught the twist of fabric, but she said nothing. She doubted that any god had a hand in her own rebirth, but she did not mention that, either.

The woman asked after her meeting and that cool smile was offered again. "That is the reason that I work for him, and by extension, her. She has something and it keeps him shackled. I don't like him shackled. Much less fun," she admitted, shrugging her shoulders and bringing arms to cross over her chest. "I thought we might be able to share information. Anything you glean about him, you let me know. Vice versa," she suggested, still standing directly in front of the woman.
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Re: Task II: Death and Decorum

Postby channe » Thu Aug 29, 2013 1:54 pm

"Okay," she says, after a moment. "That sounds like a decent deal." A pause. "Ah, I get it. You want power. You think that they gots some power there, don't you?"
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Re: Task II: Death and Decorum

Postby Guppy » Thu Aug 29, 2013 1:59 pm

The creature looked pleased with her, nodding in agreement. She offered a hand to shake on the matter, again. Any pause the woman made would get her a pointed look. "I don't bite, dear."

The wager on what she wanted was met with a shrug of her shoulders. "I do enjoy power. Perhaps a little revenge. At the moment, I would like Giuseppe and I don't like sharing," she admitted, without apology.
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