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tushanshu_logs2015-01-11 11:33 am
ironwood) wrote in tushanshu_logs2015-01-11 11:33 am
[EVENT] Courtyard of Public Opinion
Characters: ALL!
Date: January 10th
Location: Central Keeliai - Courtyard of Public Opinion
Situation: A meeting has been called to determine the status of the Foreigners in the city, including the upcoming and highly anticipated Shangpar race. The major NPC players can be approached, and Foreigners have a chance to make a case for their treatment within the city.
Warnings/Rating: Add warnings as needed.
The Courtyard of Public Opinion has been around since before Emperor Eshai's death, a relic of a time when all kedan would have preferred talking about their problems instead of fighting. Even now that the spell suppressing their true nature has been removed, none of the kedan want more trouble than Keeliai already has, especially where the Foreigners are concerned. Violence is frowned upon - though by no means forbidden - and while discussions can get heated, a disagreement will usually be taken outside the Courtyard before it comes to blows.
The Courtyard isn't any bigger than some of the open fountain areas in the Water Sector, and it isn't set up the way some of the Foreigners might imagine a political debate area to be set up. There’s no podium, no chairs apart from the stone benches too heavy to be moved, and no grand banners or archways. This is done deliberately; everyone is meant to have an equal voice in the Courtyard, so everyone is on level ground. Apart from the greenery, the stone paths, and the low stone walls surrounding the Courtyard, one could almost imagine it’s just another Market Day in an open square.
The kedan arrive early in large groups of eight or ten at a time, and they'll exhibit a wide variety of reactions to the Foreigners' arrival - everything from open disapproval and fear to a new and very cautious optimism.
LINKS
Shangpar Races | Foreigner Status | Tu Yunxu - The Snakes | Zanru - The Metalworkers | Heojin - The Woodsmen | Milyn - Cherrywood Healer | Questions
OOC
There are six starters for various parts of the discussion, one specifically on the races, one on the Foreigners' overall status in Keeliai, and then one for each of the major NPCs. Characters are present for the entirety of the conversations listed below, and those who wish to input or engage on the first two topics should reply to them in the relevant comment, and the NPC comments are for directly speaking with that NPC or those in that group. The rest of the post is for Foreigners talking and organizing amongst themselves.
Date: January 10th
Location: Central Keeliai - Courtyard of Public Opinion
Situation: A meeting has been called to determine the status of the Foreigners in the city, including the upcoming and highly anticipated Shangpar race. The major NPC players can be approached, and Foreigners have a chance to make a case for their treatment within the city.
Warnings/Rating: Add warnings as needed.
The Courtyard of Public Opinion has been around since before Emperor Eshai's death, a relic of a time when all kedan would have preferred talking about their problems instead of fighting. Even now that the spell suppressing their true nature has been removed, none of the kedan want more trouble than Keeliai already has, especially where the Foreigners are concerned. Violence is frowned upon - though by no means forbidden - and while discussions can get heated, a disagreement will usually be taken outside the Courtyard before it comes to blows.
The Courtyard isn't any bigger than some of the open fountain areas in the Water Sector, and it isn't set up the way some of the Foreigners might imagine a political debate area to be set up. There’s no podium, no chairs apart from the stone benches too heavy to be moved, and no grand banners or archways. This is done deliberately; everyone is meant to have an equal voice in the Courtyard, so everyone is on level ground. Apart from the greenery, the stone paths, and the low stone walls surrounding the Courtyard, one could almost imagine it’s just another Market Day in an open square.
The kedan arrive early in large groups of eight or ten at a time, and they'll exhibit a wide variety of reactions to the Foreigners' arrival - everything from open disapproval and fear to a new and very cautious optimism.
LINKS
Shangpar Races | Foreigner Status | Tu Yunxu - The Snakes | Zanru - The Metalworkers | Heojin - The Woodsmen | Milyn - Cherrywood Healer | Questions
OOC
There are six starters for various parts of the discussion, one specifically on the races, one on the Foreigners' overall status in Keeliai, and then one for each of the major NPCs. Characters are present for the entirety of the conversations listed below, and those who wish to input or engage on the first two topics should reply to them in the relevant comment, and the NPC comments are for directly speaking with that NPC or those in that group. The rest of the post is for Foreigners talking and organizing amongst themselves.
no subject
"How about I promise not to whine about being kidnapped if you don't whine about being exploited by the scary mean foreigners?" Tony says, with the same tone of reckless amiability.
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Even though she was going to get punched in the bargain. Not by Tony, oh no; Xuiyu wasn't afraid of any scrawny cloud-snatcher with designs at being god-like. But by Zanru, yeah, that's probably going to be in the cards. Zanru would thank her for it once the bug left her butt. Hopefully.
Xuiyu looked at Tony in the eye, and that required actually looking up. "You've got a problem, kiddo, and that problem is your ego. You came in here all pretending at being downtrodden, when the fact is that your lot holds a galleon of power. Not in numbers, but in ability and in knowledge. The only thing the kedan have are numbers and passion. If you wanted you could take over that city, and yeah, that makes people nervous. It makes them even more nervous when you act like you're poor nobodies who can't stitch two sheets of steel together, because we all know that's a load of dragon shit."
no subject
And Xiuyu sounds like she's willing to talk straight and doesn't have a chip the size of an iceberg on her shoulder, which already makes her a lot more appealing to deal with than Zanru.
"Fair enough," he says, crossing his arms. "We've got abilities and knowledge, but you've got numbers and passion - and that's what makes us nervous. It's not like we expected to come back to parades and speeches in hour honor, but a 'thanks' would have been nice. And instead, half of us are living off of Anton's charity, and half the city would probably rather knife us than sell us an apple. That's not really helping us trust you guys, and it makes it pretty hard for all of us to work together for the good of everyone. If that's what you're after."
no subject
If he hadn't, then Xuiyu could maybe excuse his attitude as ignorance, even though he was an idiot if he hadn't at least heard what was down there from one of the other Foreigners. But if he had been down there, and still saw fit to act like he deserved instant trust from the kedan, then Xuiyu might have to punch him herself.
no subject
It's one thing to find the foreigners annoying or problematic or even threatening, but Tony's pretty damn offended by the suggestion that the foreigners would have left the kedan to die if they'd had the choice. He's also frustrated that she either can't or won't see the difference between 'wanting credit' and 'wanting to not be treated like shit.'
He's considering how best to articulate that, but her mention of the Palace dungeon stops him cold.
"...I didn't. But I heard about it." And what he'd heard... If he'd gone down there, he'd probably still be having nightmares.
Maybe the foreigners don't deserve the treatment they're getting from the kedan, but the kedan have some pretty good reasons not to trust anybody.
"So you don't trust us. And we're having a tough time trusting you. But we both need things from each other, and not trusting each other isn't helping any of us. Since you're talking to me, I'm guessing you want to do something about that."
cw: slight discussion of child torture
She shifted in her seat, rubbing her knee and swinging her false leg. "When the old nightmare had the palace, you might've noticed we were all a bit narky about how you were handling things. Zanru was one of the ones who wasn't. The Foreigners are here for a job, she'd say. Look at the things they can make, they'll get it done. Well, you did, but too little, too late. There were bodies in the dungeons we can't even identify because they were so rotten, and even the bodies that were there don't account for all of the kedan missings we've got."
Xuiyu looked back at him. "When you whine about being kidnapped and how it's all awful for you, Zanru isn't thinking about how your position, coming unwillingly to a place where you were housed and clothed and fed. She's thinking about her five-year-old daughter, snatched terrified in the middle of the night and taken to a dank dungeon. When you talk about how you deserve some trust because you beat the nightmare, Zanru isn't thinking of the fact you won. She's thinking about the fact that her daughter was tortured for months in the palace because you were all so busy making plans that the enemy got tired of waiting for you."
Xuiyu's thick fingers dug into the joint where the fake leg was attached to her knee. It was psychosomatic, but it still itched. Her gaze was still on Tony. "We don't even know if she's dead. She wasn't one of the identifiable bodies. When you folks died, you didn't stay dead. When you go home, you won't have to live with what happened during that war. You'll pick up your lives just by picking up your date-book. But we, the kedan, will have to live with what happened for the rest of our lives. Zanru will have to live with knowing that she won't know what happened to her kid because she trusted folks who couldn't get the job done. You can say all you like about how innocents don't deserve to get hurt, but words mean exactly shit. You had a job and you stalled, and it was kedan who got hurt because of it. You're old enough to understand why people might dislike the fact that the first things you were worried about when you came back was the fact that you lost a few personal belongings. We lost our daughters, sons, parents, siblings, and I haven't heard about a single sympathy card regarding that."
no subject
It's not the same, but it's close enough to leave him pale and speechless for several long moments.
He looks down. "I'm sorry," he says, almost in a whisper. He could say he didn't know, but he had known about the kedan casualties, so all he'd be saying is 'I didn't know any of the kedan well enough for their losses to affect me personally.'
It had been too easy to lose himself in the lab and in the insularity of the foreigners, and distance himself from the real cost of the war. But there had been a cost, and winning the war hadn't magically made everything better. He's not used to that. He doesn't know how to deal with the consequences of doing his best, and his best not being enough.
"You're right." He sighs and runs a hand over his face, and swallows hard to loosen the tightness in his throat. "I'm sorry. You're right." He doesn't know what else there is to say.
no subject
Xuiyu pointed at him with her spare hand. "That's the message you need to be sending to people. Ask what you can do to help, instead of telling 'em what you should get. If some people say you can help by buggering off and leaving 'em alone, that's their prerogative." She grimaced and dropped her hand. "Just don't be stupid and go up and tell Zanru you're sorry; she'll get all pissy about the pity."
Given this contract, there was a large chance Zanru and Tony's paths would cross somewhere, and Zanru was sure to notice a change in Tony's behaviour. Xuiyu wasn't intending to keep the fact she'd spoken to him a secret. She just ... wasn't going to rush into getting punched.
"Be upfront," she said. "Tell her she's wrong when she's wrong, but don't be defensive or self-righteous about her mudslinging. It's all just talk, because she doesn't trust people who dress things up in pretty words. She blows more hot air than a smithy's bellows, but when the hammer hits forge she cares more about doing the job right than being petty, and if that means hiring a self-righteous idiot with the skills, then she'll do it."
Given how Tony had gone off on her, and the speed of his turnaround which indicated it wasn't all sincere, Xuiyu was surprised that Zanru had even offered the contract. It'd be good for the city, of course, and Zanru considered what was good for the city. But Tony had hurt Zanru personally in his ignorance and entitlement and in spite of the fact her words didn't prove her actions, offering the contract indicated a willingness to open herself to disappointment that Xuiyu hadn't expected. It worried her, a little.
no subject
He lets out a quiet chuckle, more wry and self-deprecating than amused, and meets Xuiyu's eyes again. "So, is this contract a good place to start? What do you need me to do?"
no subject
She stopped to take a breath. As blunt as she was, when she got down to business her tone turned brisk, not quite sharp but quick. "How many teams you'll need is up to you and what we can afford. Pitch it to us and we can negotiate for it. One thing we are going to stipulate is that there's at least two Metalworkers on each team. If all they do is stand around and take notes, fine, so long as they learn what you're doing and how to repair it, and can teach it to others back at the company. We're also going to need an estimate of how many labourers you'll need for actual construction--I don't care if you can do it all yourself using your fancy machines, you get to have a job as overseer and there are kedan in the city who need the work too."
Hm. What else. Oh, yeah. "You can do a flyover for surveillance if that's what you want," Xuiyu continued, "but there's some land we might need to buy from the Woodsmen. We'll handle that, but you'll need to have a list of backups as well as preferences. We're also going to need to talk supplies, but that can happen once you've done a write-up of maximums and minimums in terms of labour, and we've figured out locations and teams."
no subject
Don't be sarcastic, Tony, somebody not wanting to hit you would be a step forward in most of your interactions.But he nods in agreement with all her conditions, since they are all, fortunately, reasonable.
"I can get all that to you within a week. I haven't really done surveying before..." That's the kind of logistics that his dad usually deals with, and Tony has more interest in machines than buildings and structures, anyway. "But I'll do a flyover of the sites and tell you whatever I can. I'll record video so your engineers can look over the aerial views, too."
no subject
In fact Xuiyu could name four people offhand who would do good surveyor’s work without needing to outsource to the Woodsmen. All of them had been on her sapper squad during the Chihuelan invasion—they’d protected the foundation of the city’s walls during the brief siege.
no subject
"That's fine. I'll bring you the plans and estimates, and you bring me a surveying schedule. I don't have a whole lot of other obligations to work around, so just give me what works best for your people."
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There are a lot of bad things you can say about Tony Stark, but that he's a slacker isn't one of them.
He's curious about the tram, and getting the foreigners involved in that would be a big deal, but he's not going to push his luck right now. They'll prove what they're worth working on the broadcast setup, first. Then they can negotiate for other projects.
"That's it. I'll come by SI later to get the contract drawn up."
no subject