[EVENT] Courtyard of Public Opinion

[ironwood]

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.

Comments

[highprofilerichkid]

Tony doesn't know what losing a child feels like, but he imagines it feels like losing everything; like suddenly finding yourself in some strange alternate reality where nothing matters and nothing makes sense. And that... that's something he can understand. He'd been a young man shining with promise, with a loving, supportive father and enough money and power to buy him anything else he could ever need - and in one horrible moment, all of it had been snatched away. Next thing he knew, he was just a broken kid in a hospital bed with no family, no certain future, and a timer in his chest counting quickly down to zero.

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.

[forgediron]

The fact that Tony could respond to that without being defensive about what he had or hadn't done said a lot about him. He was young and too smart for his own good, and had a bug up his ass fatter than a pet bird, but he wasn't a bad kid.

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.

[highprofilerichkid]

Still looking down, Tony nods. "Okay. I'll try." Nothing about this is easy for him, but he will try. Try to offer help instead of expecting people to help him, try to swallow his pride when the kedan turn him away and when Zanru blows up at him. Try to remember that not all Keeliai's problems are going to be solved with a well-placed repulsor and a witty one-liner.

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?"

[forgediron]

"See?" Xuiyu clapped him on the arm. "I already don't want to hit you. Now, the contract. We're going to have to go in and have a contract written up and printed out before you start, but after that, what we need is a blueprint--a schedule, an estimate of how many locations we need and how many structures in those locations, an estimate of the cost, financial and resource-wise."

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."

[highprofilerichkid]

"Oh, great, thanks," Tony says dryly. 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."

[forgediron]

“If you haven’t done it before then you should have someone along,” said Xuiyu. “The video will help, but it’s completely different to standing on the ground. It’ll take longer that way, if you have to wait for someone to walk ’em, but maybe you’ll learn something in the meantime.”

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.

[highprofilerichkid]

"Cool, a stroll through the countryside. I'll pack a picnic." The sarcasm is good-natured, though, and he's almost smiling.

"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."

[forgediron]

"Good." Xuiyu clapped her hands to her knees. "If you get it done fast we can set up some portable stations in the meantime, for the race. You can pick up the radio when you come to get your contract done." She got to her feet, a little stiffly and favouring her bad leg. "If that's all, Stark?"

[highprofilerichkid]

"I can get it done fast."

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."

[forgediron]

"I'll see you then," said Xuiyu, and stumped off toward the crowd where Zanru was still fielding questions. Maybe if she was lucky there wouldn't be a good opportunity to tell Zanru about that little chat for another week.