(no subject)

[sythyry]

Mirrored from Sythyry.

Consequences

Me: “Wentalilla, on this ship, when it is necessary to chastise children, we stop short of physical violence. Stabbing hCevian, while wrong, is more understandable: he is an adult (I think) and he had already struck you. Albeit in defense of Feralan.”

Wentalilla: “My job is to protect the prince.”

Me: “You can do that as much as you like. As you and the prince take commercial skyboats back from our night’s stop to Barency. Or even to Hanija, if you like; I don’t much care where you go after you are off Strayway. I won’t have this sort of recklessness and violence on my skyboat.”

Rastomil: “Am I to be expelled, then? I have done relatively little wickedness on board, save to be collided with and brutally guarded.”

Feralan: “Prince Rastomil? Are you being very anxious about getting expelled? You look very nervous and worried!”

Rastomil: “O young Cani of a Rassimel — I am indeed less than eager to return to Barency.”

Me: “I don’t see any reason to kick you off for having a troublesome friend, Rastomil, so long as you behave well.”

Wentalilla: “Then I must stay to guard him!”

Me: “You must leave the skyboat at our next port of call, which is Flowdeen, in about an hour or so. “

Wentalilla: “This is in defiance of the law and the Duke!”

Me: “The law and the duke of Barency, a city which we cannot even see from here. You may spend the meantime packing if you wish, or in persuading Rastomil to come with you. Your choice.”

Jagraton: “This is inappropriate behavior, and will be met with suitable measures!”

Me: “If you do more than write a strongly-worded complaint to the Vheshrame embassy, I will remove you from the ship as well.” And, when I saw where Jagraton’s hand was, I added, “Threatening violence to the ship’s captain is a great crime to the Sky Pilot’s Guild — whose laws do apply here, as we are on a skyboat.”

When we docked at Flowdeen, we escorted Wentalilla to the door, sans luggage. Violence was nearly necessary, but Prince Rastomil agreed to accompany her over the threshold, onto the dock. She tried to grab him and kidnap him away there, but was prevented from doing so by Windigar’s quick use of the ship’s defenses.

Jagraton looked daggers at me every time he saw me, and recruited one of the Cani — Bryef, a Barency city guard — as a spare bodyguard for the prince.

Comments

[shurhaian.livejournal.com]

Good on you for that, on many levels. If Wentalilla had been even slightly repentant, I might have been inclined to show clemency, but as it is, she's been nothing short of a thug, and deserves a reminder that Barency's laws - and with them, any authority she might have - end at the borders of Barency Mene. Strayway is not a flying embassy of the Barency.

I wonder how long it'll be before Jagraton puts himself in a similar state of persona non grata.

[stormydragon.livejournal.com]

Unrelated to the disposition of Wentalilla, but someone may want to have a talk with Feralan about when and when not to ask people about how they feel. As he grows older, there are certain situations, such as a tense standoff, where that could easily be perceived as sarcastic mocking.

One unfortunate outcome from this episode is that hCevian's retreat may have left Jagraton with the feeling that he and Wenalilla were the supreme powers on the boat. You may want to arrange an oppurtunity to make it clear to him that if things came to blows, there are beings on your boat that could easily handle him. I'm not sure exactly how to do that though.

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

Good points, both of those.

The current ranking on the boat is roughly, Vae > me > Jagraton > hCevian/Grinwipey/Yerenthax/Phaniet. I'm not quite sure how those four compare. (And I hope I'm not leaving anyone out.)

[stormydragon.livejournal.com]

I think Vae ≫ you ≫ Jagraton > hCevian/Grinwipey/Yerenthax/Phaniet is probably more accurate. ;>

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

I won't argue with that.

[stormydragon.livejournal.com]

I also think that someday you will surpass Vae. She has a lot of raw power, but very little control. Your finese will eventually make you far more dangerous than her.

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

Well, in terms of using magic to get results that make the caster happy, I already am ahead of her. So is Quendry.

[stormydragon.livejournal.com]

I meant in the sense that a skilled fencer can dispatch someone with a giant mace, even if the mace does far more damage then the sword.

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

Truly!

[rowyn]

I did not realize that your Locador demon was so comparatively harmless as to be on level with skilled adventurers! Interesting.

[stormydragon.livejournal.com]

It probably wasn't before, but I've gotten the impression that Feralan's empathy has severly hurt its ability to fight full out.

[bloofox.livejournal.com]

I would have been inclined to put Jagraton off. (Or at least ask the prince if he would prefer to be freed from Jagraton's vicious guardship and put him off if so.)

[chipuni.livejournal.com]

You did well, Sythyry. You handled that problem as a good captain.

[terrycloth.livejournal.com]

I don't think she actually *meant* to do violence per se. v.v

But I guess it worked out, and she was carelessly nasty. Also, correct. If she wanted Rastomil to be safe, he needs off the ship of DOOM.

[kensaro.livejournal.com]

Well, at least she tried the getting him off the ship part, if possibly not in the most productive way.

[heavenscalyx.livejournal.com]

Jagraton will need to go over the side, preferably somewhere near the Verticals.

[tuftears.livejournal.com]

I'd keep an eye on Jagraton, he's likely to want keelhauling soon! >_>

[allessindra.livejournal.com]

I'd be interested in seeing what Rastomil is like without the bodyguards around. His comment about not wanting to go back to Barency is interesting.

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

Please to read the next section, wherein Phaniet interviewed him on that very topic, as soon as my sluggard-lump of a translator gets to its job!

[ragarth.livejournal.com]

So what are the chances that we'll see Wentalilla again? She does, afterall, know your destination.

[stormydragon.livejournal.com]

Worse, she goes back to Barency with some story about how Sythyry has kidnapped the Prince.

[ragarth.livejournal.com]

Good point, then shows up at their destination.