(no subject)

[sythyry]

Thieves at Work[15 Oix 4261]

Not a thief

Floosh, of course, spent a great deal of yesterday evening giving me a great deal of excellent relationship advice. I think I heard a lot of it. I definitely heard the name that I've been given -- "I" being my Orren shape, the one who is often seen slinking to and from the Daukrhame embassy, and who nobody really knows any other way.

She's called "Noble Honey."

Floosh recommended that, if I do get back with Ilottat, that I give that Orren shape a real name and such, and go out with Ilottat in public using her more. Make Ilottat treat me like his actual girlfriend. (Well, like his actual mistress, since he's married and all. But who could blame him for having a mistress, since he's married to Ysgwyd.)

The City Guard at Work

I sort of moped back to Across Saga again, looking like Blueshell the Herethroy. Several people there were complaining about the city guards.

Summary	Popularity	Lozens	Approach
Basic Blackmail	moderate	20-50	A guard or two quietly taps the victim on the shoulder, noting that the victim was recently seen in Across Saga, and that the victim might wish this information to stay private.
Fancy Blackmail	moderate	100-400	Two or three guards note that the victim has powerful enemies in the city, and only weak friends. Thestra, who is a thief, has powerful potential enemies -- the foreigners she steals from. She has relatively few local friends -- a typical Cani would have some useful social connections through her family, but Thestra's closest family is Denaist.
Basic Extortion	common	10-60	The guards note that traff-folk have been known to suffer various physical indignities in the neighborhood of late -- perpetrators unknown -- and that the victim might do well to contribute to a private city guard fund concerning such matters.
Basic Robbery	one or two per night	0-500	Two or three invisible people assault the victim, usually with a sword-thrust to the belly followed by a careful pummelling, leaving the victim unconscious. All valuables are removed. Humiliating slogans are attached to the victim or scribbled in the area. The perpetrators are, of course, never caught. A few of these encourage people to be generous when basically extorted.
Protection Money	just one	666	Across Saga pays the guard 666 lozens to avoid having any incidents in the cafe proper on that evening. [Which is to say, 2/3 of 1000 -- no cross-universe numerology at work here. -bb]

I estimate that this extracts some four thousand lozens, or perhaps 166 lozens (after the superiors' and duke's shares) per involved guard. Not bad for a night's moonlighting.

Nobles rarely come to Across Saga, for some reason. We're supposed to be libertines, not traff. Traff is a lowerclass perversion, a pernicious gnawing on one of the roots of Prime civilization. Libertinitude is one of the perquisites of wealth and power.

I'm traff.

Sorry if that sounds like Strenata.

I think I am beginning to understand why she's so displeased with nobility.

Thestra at Work

Thestra and I pleasantried at each other a bit. There's no concealing things from a Cani, though. She asked me what was wrong, and, after a bit of interrogation, I told her.

She offered to go get my clothes from Ilottat.

She got very interested when she learned he's at the Daukrhame embassy. For one thing, he's her legitimate prey, being a non-citizen. For another, that more or less tells her who I am, once she investigates a bit.

Anyways, she excused herself, and in about an hour she came back with one of Ilottat's suitcases.

Me:"I didn't have that many clothes!"

Thestra:"It's not just clothes."

Me:"Oh, dear."

Thestra:"It's his private library, too."

She had packed a suitcase with Ilottat's Zi Ri pornography collection.

That got a big round of applause from all of Across Saga.

Oh, dear.

Comments

[mufi.livejournal.com]

There can be no problem!

The Illotat, he does not wish to be called traff; the porn, it is of Zi Ri.

To take it from him is a parting gift, to save him from cases of mistaken identity.

[rowyn]

Absolutely! Very thoughtful of Thestra, really, to observe that this collection obviously did not belong in the hands of one such as Illotat.

[tuftears.livejournal.com]

Finestkind thinking!

[yotogi.livejournal.com]

This thinking, it is the genius!

[mazlynn.livejournal.com]

*applause*

[terrycloth.livejournal.com]

And I'm sure that for a small fee, Thestra can dispose of it safely, so that it doesn't accidentally find its way into the wrong hands.

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

Yeah -- I don't know what I'd do with it. I'm traff, I don't want Zi Ri porn.

[redbird]

Offer it to a fine-looking Orren and see if it incites him or her into suitable wild rushing?

[justicezero.livejournal.com]

Just because you are traff does not mean you do not also appreciate Zi Ri. The two are not necessarily exclusive. You had noted earlier that you found those books interesting in the past.
The nearest equivalent of traff-ness here is an appreciation for the same gender. There are many people who are attracted to both.

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

[Sythyry does not deign to reply. Zie's gotten all political about this topic. -bb]