Command Tent — Official Business

The guard, being handed a weapon, takes it. He’s not quite sure what to do with it, so he just sort of holds it in his other hand and nods toward the tent flap. Coatl is free to enter.

Within, Lady Naoki is seated at the table, with a ledger and some maps open before her. She’s looking up as he enters, having heard his approach, and stands to greet him, leaning forward to offer her hand for shaking across the table.

“Coatl. Guardian of the Imilla Clan,” she says, mimicking the tone of voice he used when first addressing her. It’s meant to be funny, and Naoki chuckles before continuing in her own voice, “Good to see you’re doing well. Sit,” she gestures.

The table, initially intended for displaying maps in times of war, makes for a very wide desk. There’s Naoki’s large seat, over on the far side, and a whole collection of more modest chairs intended for commanders and the like circled around it. Coatl has his choice between them, given there’s seemingly only the two of them in the tent.

“You’ve assumed a leadership position of sorts,” she begins, seating herself. “So I’d like to speak to you, get to know you. Talk about how you and yours get on with everyone, make sure your needs are being met, see how you can help everyone, what sort of role you might play going forward, that sort of thing.”

“And give you the chance to question me,” she adds. “As far as I know, you’ve not met me — any incarnation of me?” Naoki looks to Coatl for confirmation. “So there must be a few questions, at least. We can either start with those, or I’d quite like to hear your story. You have the look of someone who has few stories to tell, if you don’t mind my saying.” Her tone is light and conversational. They might eventually get around to discussing something important, but for now this is intended as not much more than an amicable conversation.

When Coatl moves for the chess set, Naoki waves permissively. “They’ve been collecting dust in the hold for a couple of decades, so, no. Be my guest.”

She listens to his tale with both ears, clearly quite interested in what he has to say. She nods along, and afterward, takes a moment to digest what he’s said.

“So to you, I am a living legend, the stuff of stories. And to me, you are — perhaps, a distant descendant of someone I once knew, who walked more or less the same world I did, but hundreds of years in the future. What was some three months ago for us both was separated by centuries.” Regarding the man again with new eyes, Naoki hums.

“Absolutely absurd,” She says after a pause, “All of this.”

Naoki listens again as he goes on, and nods again, despite not knowing what Coatl means. Her eyebrows raise when he tosses the piece, and rise further when it doesn’t come down.

“My…” One of Naoki’s eyebrows lowers, giving the impression that the other is raised in confusion. “Oh, you mean Grandma. That’s with a capital G — she’s not my grandmother, or I think anyone’s for that matter, that’s just what she’s called.” Naoki waves that line of thought away, continuing.

“But, what do you mean?” she asks. “Who? You have a… spirit friend?” she hazards. Patting herself down, Naoki reaches for the pouch on her hip and begins to sort around inside it, looking for something.

Naoki is still in the process of patting herself down as one of the pawns makes its move. She blinks. She wasn’t expecting anything at all, but she’s underwhelmed as well. It’s a first impression, certainly. Times are tough, Naoki supposes, and magic is dampened, probably especially so for ethereal-sorts. It’s understandable.

Naoki listens, though, and nods along, obviously interested, but becoming increasingly frustrated with her inability to find whatever it is she’s looking for. Naoki stops short of dumping her bag on the table, and huffs. “My glasses… I, I must have left them on the ship,” she supposes.

“But that tracks,” Naoki continues. “If she’s from what was the distant past for you, it may have been such that she knew me, a version of me, my descendants or something like that — and I do right by my people. It might be a bit easier to tell if I could see them, but failing that for now, Cuate, you can write here in my notebook, if you’d like.”

Sliding the notebook one way, Naoki pulls the chessboard the other way, partway toward herself, such that she might get at the black pieces. Accepting the offer, she moves a pawn in response. “And how has that been?” she continues. “Living life with a spirit in you? If you can communicate, I bet that means you’ve had to deal with a good many more cheeky remarks than you would have otherwise.” Naoki smirks at the pair of them and gives the impression that she knows a bit more than she’s letting on.

Naoki smirks and moves another pawn, feigning disappointment not to hear about Coatl’s exploits. Mayhaps she’ll hold him to that, another time. For now, she listens and nods.

“You could say that,” she replies. “You’d heard of me, and got many of the salient details. What I center myself on is my duty to my people. In stepping up to rule Isra, I accepted responsibility for its citizens — my citizens, and their wellbeing. It is my duty to ensure that they have what they need, that they’re safe, that they’re free to live their lives and all that.”

“I couple this with my learned talents for administration and accounting, and a knowledge of how to get things done. Those, along with my stunning good looks, a touch of feminine wiles, and....” She nods. “Inspiring loyalty is sort of my thing, yes. And the best bit being that it’s always deserved,” she adds, wagging a finger. “I do well by those who do well by me, and reward service amply. I’ve cultivated — I suppose you could call them an ‘eclectic bunch’, yes, but of talented, loyal associates who help me do what I do. They’re the keys to my power, and I wouldn’t be here without them.” Glancing away from Coatl, Naoki looks to the empty space opposite the chessboard, then down, then over to the notebook, where her eyes linger on the handwriting for a long moment.

After a moment, Naoki continues, happy to monologue, “The bit about accepting all sorts, that’s a holdover from Isra’s founder: a survivor of the last cataclysm, Ildesias. He was an elf lord from an elf kingdom of old, but didn’t have many other elves, as I’ve understood, so he called it ‘The Free City,’ and made it out to be a refuge for all sorts. There’s never been any reason to change that, and large portions of Isra’s population are or were — I suppose all now are (come to consider it), refugees.”

“With Old Isra, at least in these first thirty years that I was present for, I got ahead of the curve,” Naoki admits. “I grew it strong, quickly, stronger than it needed to be — far stronger, and to such a degree that Isra’s strength actively discouraged conflict. I spent far more gold than was needed on military equipment, fortifications, training soldiers, and the like, but almost never had to pay with any of those soldiers' lives. I made it known it was better to be my friend than my enemy, and as a result, had a lot of friends, and no real wars.”

“It got boring at times,” Naoki goes on to admit, readjusting herself in her seat to throw her tail up over one armrest. “But that was a good problem to have, and left plenty of time for hobbies. Which is why I know chess — which, to be fair, is itself not a very good game,” she adds, nodding toward the notebook. “I can do impressions, I can juggle, and I’ve got — I think you know, other talents.” Holding Coatl’s gaze for a moment, the tip of Naoki’s tongue peeks out from between her lips, then retreats.

“I’d be happy to show you, if you’re interested, but for now, is that enough of a story, or would you like one with more structure? I’ll tell you any story the two of you would like to hear, but give me a hint. I could tell you about how I came to rule Isra, that’s a good one. I could tell you about all the different refugees who made their home there. I could tell you about Isra’s military over the years, or the battles they ended up fighting. I could tell you of the festivals I organized, some of the trips I’ve been on, or my struggles to find a suitable heir. I could tell you about Isra’s navy, about The Depravity, or any number of other things.” Having produced a brush from her pouch, Naoki begins to brush her tail, holding it from behind with one hand and taking the brush to it with the other. If there’s anything else she has to do today, she’s not showing it.

“I ruled Old Isra for about thirty years before the flood came, yes, thank you.” Naoki takes the compliment in stride and carries on brushing her tail, looking every bit the cat goddess she is.

But the mention of a warchest, she chuckles openly and shakes her head. “Ildesias didn’t leave me much. It was taxes and tariffs that paid the bills — the same as any other nation, but certainly not the ones he levied. His Assembly barely kept the streets clean. Their shoestring tax code is why I was able to commission The Depravity before holding any office at all, and the first thing I threw out when I was appointed as Treasurer. They didn’t seem to have any finance people in the government prior to my arrival. It was a bit tricker to manage the finances of a nation in comparison to a tavern, but.” Naoki shrugs. “I got the hang of it quickly enough,” she supposes.

Rather than engaging with Cuate’s queen, Naoki develops a piece on the other side of the board and glances over to the notebook.

“Ah, the festivals! Now you’ve gone and wound me up,” she cautions, wagging a finger. “My favorite, perhaps the best festival Isra ever threw was the first Prospernalia celebration. But to tell you about that, I first need to tell you about the mastermind behind the event: Ganymede Galaii."

In preparation to properly tell the tale, Naoki stands and resettles herself in her seat, one leg crossed over the other and her tail crossed over that. She takes a sip from her waterskin, clears her throat, and begins. “At several points, I made it known that I was looking for Ministers to aid me in my administration of Isra. Ganymede approached me after one such announcement. After a discussion, we reached an agreement. On the books, her title was Minister of The Arts, but in practice and in spirit, she was to be the state-sanctioned party thrower. I wasn't looking for someone to perform such a role — I was really trying to find candidates to replace the Chancellor, but she sold me on it.”

Thinking back, Naoki adopts a faraway look in her eyes and gestures broadly. “I remember — if you think I’m pleasing to the eye, you should have seen her. Ganymede was, perhaps, two-thirds, maybe even three-fourths as gorgeous as I, in an exotic, almost otherworldly way, with the reddest hair you’d ever seen. Looking at her, you could tell that she was truly something else — and she was. She told me that she was a nymph, a daughter of some god of merrymaking. I didn’t ever meet them or any of Ganymede’s siblings, but I believe it, and you would too, seeing her, and the way she moved. The way she carried herself, she reminded me most of some of the Fae I met later…” Naoki is quiet for a moment, then shrugs.

“In any case, at one of our first meetings, she floated the idea of this ‘Prospernalia’ festival to me, as a celebration to be held on the spring equinox. It was to be a celebration of the coming new year, of the passing year, of fertility, nature, the harvest, all of that sort of thing. I hadn’t heard of it prior to that, but it was a fine enough excuse to celebrate, and she had some big plans, so I agreed.”

“Ganymede did essentially all of the planning and organizing herself, getting all of the competitions, decorations, and all that sorted. She was an absolute blur, a frenzy of activity in the weeks leading up to the festival — I’d never seen anyone work quite like that before or since. An incredible train on the poor treasury, let me tell you, but she got it done, certainly. It was to be a five-day festival, see, with different events on each day. On the first day, there was to be “The King and Queen of Prospernalia” contest, which was essentially a beauty or popularity contest. On the second day, a jousting content. The third, the archery contest and tug of war. The fourth, there was horse racing, and on the final day there was an incredible feast…”

Naoki goes on for an amount of time telling of her time at the festival. She tells of each of the competitions, who was involved, and who won. She tells of how her friend Liz, Elizabeth Finch, won Queen of Prospernalia, and what she was wearing. Naoki tells of her own involvement in the archery contest, how she decidedly did not win, and has a little laugh with herself over that. She tells of the prizes, and of the secondary festivities surrounding the main events. She speaks of a few of the folks she spent time with and some of the visitors she noticed from far abroad. She tells of the feast but doesn’t linger on the food, instead emphasizing how much fun everyone seemed to be having, the big smiles, and those sorts of things. It’s clear that she remembers the whole thing very fondly, and it sounds like it must have been an incredible time.

And as she’s speaking, Naoki continues to make moves on her turn, and her chess strategy reveals itself. Naoki plays a very closed game, taking hanged pieces but never trading, developing her pieces but never quite closing the noose. She’s waiting for her opponent to blunder, and as the board state grows increasingly complicated, she thinks it ought only to be a matter of time.

“But my favorite part, I think,” Naoki continues, smirking, “Was the strongman game. A very simple game, there was a hammer and a little sort of button-type thing to hit with the hammer. Hit it hard enough, and a little weight would go up, and if you make it go up all the way, it’d hit a little bell at the top, and you’d win. And let me tell you both — it was incredible.”

“Ganymede mentioned it to me, so I took a snack from a booth and went to have a look. First, there was a big shirtless lad and his little waspish girlfriend, I don’t know who they were. They took turns, and eventually he got it, fair enough. But then there was this dark elf type with not much more of a shirt than the first lad, huge horns, very edgy, never seen him before or since. Kelmaer Iridien was his name, I remember because he shouted it. ‘Thou shalt fear the destruction wrought by this hammer and my arm!’ he said. He threw a whole pile of silver at the poor attendant and just absolutely went at it, wailing and wailing, going and going, trying his damnedest. It was a sight to see, but eventually he got it.”

“And then Torrin walked up, none the wiser. Torrin Delmirev (I hope he’s well), was the leader of my Sentinels — elite bodyguards, for several years. He was huge in every sense of the word, and very good at what he did. A silver dragonborn, stood something like eight feet tall, wore perhaps a literal ton of armor, loads and loads of muscle underneath. He had a go — which is to say, he had several goes, more than the last lad, and was spitting smoke and fire by the end. It was an absolute show, incredible to watch. He threw, well, not half, not even an appreciable fraction of his salary, really because I paid him very well, but a significant amount of silver nonetheless, and eventually walked away with a prize.”

“Then, I had my go, and I only needed one,” Naoki smirks, holding up one finger. This is the bit of the story she’d been meaning to get to.

“There are two possible explanations. The first is that I figured out the technique. The button was sort of a lever mechanism, yes? Most of the attempts I saw hit the middle with as much force as they could, which makes sense if you don’t think about it, but my strategy was to hit the end closer to me, further from the weight, so the lever would send the weight flying.” She pantomimes the lever-action with her hands, explaining.

“Either that,” Naoki says, gesturing with both fingers, “Or, or, it was rigged, and the bone-chilling smirk I gave the attendant just prior to my attempt convinced him that it’d be in his interest for me to win. I prefer to believe the former is true, but in the end, I suppose it doesn’t matter.” She chuckles, shrugging, and reaches into the pouch on her hip once again. Finding something, she pulls and pulls, eventually pulling out the tip, and then more of something stuffed and purple, tapered on the end, with little felt scales going up one side. She’s about to continue, but thinks the better of it.

“It’s a plush dragon, about yay tall,” Naoki explains, holding her free hand ~3 feet up off the ground. “It’s a pain to fit back inside once it’s out, so you’ll excuse me for not showing you the whole thing.”

“I wouldn’t mind seeing Ganymede again,” Naoki remarks, stuffing the dragon tail back into her pouch. “Damn fine parties she threw, and we could really do with her sort of festivities. I don’t quite have enough resources to throw at her for another Prospernalia, not yet, but I’m sure she’d make do, and be good for morale regardless.”

Again, Naoki shrugs. “In any case, how’s that for a story?” She looks between Coatl and the empty space she suspects Cuate might be inhabiting.

When Coatl starts talking about deciding the fate of peoples and the circle of life, Naoki quirks an eyebrow. She’s gone and spun too grand a tale, now he’s been wound up.

“You know that I can’t tell you what the future holds,” Naoki says, holding Coatl’s gaze as she angles her head to the side. “That’s beyond me.”

“And right now, I’m not asking you to decide anyone’s fate.” she goes on to clarify. “All I’m angling to do here is earn your trust and make an ally of you. From there, we’ll be able to go on and shape the future. And to that end, I’ll tell you whatever you’d like to know.”

To that end, Naoki stands, and continues to speak as bends to rummage in a cupboard. “The Land Tillers were, yes, friends and allies of Isra for a long time before they decided to join.”

“You may find this to be of interest. It is…” Unrolling the scroll, Naoki checks. “Yes, a map of Isra. Out of date, but close enough.”

Coming back to the table, Naoki spreads the map on the table before Coatl and uses a few of the pieces she’s taken from Cuate to weigh down the corners.

“This is the city of Isra, here, and we had a less crude name for the river. We called it The Silverion — one of Ildesias’s party chose it, I think. It ran down from these, The Norkari mountains, which, as you went further east, eventually became the Saskatoon Mountains, and then this big area here was called The Expanse, and that’s where The Land Tillers lived. You can see, most of the stationary clans are marked. They’ve got their Mau River running down the middle here, a savannah to the south, and this is desert, over to the east.” Leaning over Coatl’s shoulder, Naoki traces her finger across the features as she mentions them.

“The Expanse was separated from The Free Plains by this forest, known as the Western Draconic in The Expanse, and known as The Eastern Forest in The Free Plains. … Never came up with a single name for it because the wyverns were only on the eastern side of the forest — it was all terribly confusing. But this is the road I built through the forest, which opened things up for trade and travel in a major way.”

Pulling away, Naoki fixes Coatl with a look. “You’ve probably walked this road, haven’t you?”