La Maison Soulombre, Afternoon of April 11th

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Rotipher of the FoS
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Post by Rotipher of the FoS »

The bard finds Larner's presentation surprisingly engaging, even deigning to take a few notes on the actual lecture, alongside a growing list of Brethren already checked for Brahmbei's sign. Many of the list's entries consist of descriptions only, but he'll fill in some actual names, each time a chance arises to winnow that information from other attendees.

Tending to his facade, the VRS spy makes sure "Brother Crow's" interest perks up when Larner speaks of his home city's cultural richness -- its museums, its fine art, its literature -- and he frowns, with a dissatisfaction not entirely feigned, at the cursory attention which the Zherisian devotes to these topics. As ever, the Fraternity's passionless pragmatism and wizardly biases are borne out in its scholastic pursuits: a perspective which, he suspects, will be frustrating to bards amongst its true members, as much as to himself. Perhaps he can score a few points with Quiret and his associates, for future operations, if he remedies that lapse....

He blinks, as with ingenuous surprise, at being singled out, when Larner speaks of doppelgangers. Were Crow less experienced at his spycraft, the Zherisian's attention might've seemed like a coyly-veiled threat to his own imposture; as it is, he recognizes it for the coincidence it must surely be. Larner is, after all, only fielding a question from a third party, and wariness of such monsters is a prime reason why the man should ask for "Brother Crow's" assistance, in the first place. Even if the VRS spy's cover were well and truly shattered, the senior Fraternity officers would not drop such clumsy hints now, when they still need his -- and, through him, the Oracle's -- eyes.

(Treacherous creatures, doppelgangers, if half the tales of their misdeeds were to be trusted, and perhaps even deserving of a Society monograph or two. He'll have to find out if there's any real substance to the stories, when he visits Kingsley's homeland, but his own direct experience with their kind is limited as yet. It is worth thinking about, though....)

When Larner again asks for questions, the bard offers one of his own, as much to curtail any impression that "Brother Crow" holds such beings to be of interest as for curiosity's sake. If he does look into the matter of Paridon's resident shapeshifters this summer, it certainly won't be at the Fraternity's behest, nor with Alfred Larner's knowledge.

"If I might ask, Brother Larner," he enquires, "what might it be prudent for we mainlanders to know of your city's so-called 'free press'? I gather that the dissemination of information has attained the status of a commercial industry in Paridon, far beyond the humble town cryers or block-printed posters of other realms. With the craft of printing spreading by leaps and bounds on the continent, it may well be only a matter of time before such 'handbills' are to be found in every corner of the Core.

"Given the importance of information to this brotherhood -- its acquisition, its control, its fabrication -- might not this curious enterprise be worthy of direct study, in and of itself? And has the existence of such an inquisitive industry posed an inconvenience to yourself or your Brethren in Paridon, given the presence of its self-proclaimed 'reporters': persons whose very job is to ferret out matters better kept from public knowledge?"
"Who [u]cares[/u] what the Dark Powers are? They're [i]bastards![/i] That's all I need to know of them." -- Crow
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Nathan of the FoS
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Post by Nathan of the FoS »

OOC: Just as a note--Crow hasn't been "singled out" per se. Larner just glanced at him as he says "with the help of some present"--presumably because of their conversation on a similar theme yesterday. It's unlikely that the audience in general even noticed it.

IC: "The free press is, indeed, one of our national enthusiasms," Larner stays, smiling slightly. "I would not be at all surprised to see it spread throughout the Mists, although it does demand a certain density of population, literacy, and a certain degree of laissez-faire spirit from the government which are not necessarily easy to find. I would not be surprised to find libel sheets and such-like printed in Port-a-Lucine, Martira Bay, Ste. Ronges, even Levkarest within the near future. As for reporters...their news-sheets are, as you say, a commercial enterprise, and their focus naturally falls on the sensational and the easily digested. I don't suppose you could keep a reporter still for a dull gathering of academical sorts," here Brother Larner makes an ironic gesture encompassing the room at large, "by anything short of hog-tying. One can learn a great deal from broadsheets, and disseminate any amount of information and disinformation through them, but their sheer volume of talk tends to make them better at obscuring than at revealing the outlines of any given issue."
[b]FEAR JUSTICE.[/b] :elena:
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Nathan of the FoS
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Post by Nathan of the FoS »

"If there are no further questions?" Larner says, looking out over the room. "Very well. Thank you for your attention, brothers."

The meeting breaks up rather quickly; there seems to be a general urge to get out and stretch one's legs after the enforced proximity of the last twenty-four hours. "Er...what are your plans for this evening, Brother?" Dirac asks Crow. "Will you be going back to town?"
[b]FEAR JUSTICE.[/b] :elena:
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Rotipher of the FoS
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Post by Rotipher of the FoS »

[OOC: Sorry for the hold-up, gang; the usual end-of-semester scramble snuck up and ambushed me (again). :roll: ]


Lingering in his seat as if to avoid the rush, the bard looks up from his shorthand notes, blinks up at the Dementlieuse, then scoops up his belongings as he rises to his feet.

"I hadn't made any firm plans, to be honest," Crow replies, "but I must admit, last night's disruptions didn't leave me much chance for a good night's sleep. With all due respect to the presenters, this evening's talks don't look to lie within my field of expertise. If Father Scott himself were speaking, I'd be tempted... but no, better to be fully alert for the panel-discussion tomorrow. An early night, then.

"And yourself, Brother? Will you be heading into town, to celebrate your presentation's positive reception? If so, I'd be pleased to treat you to a splash of rhum: your little jaunt to the Lady's isle made for quite an engaging tale!" He grins impishly at the smartly-dressed young Brother.

"Engaging... and risky, too, given that enigmatic demoiselle's known habits. A stroke of luck, perhaps, that you returned to us by ship and not -- as it were -- by air."

Pausing, the spy cranes his neck and playfully rises onto the balls of his feet, as if to check M. Dirac's scalp for any sign of feathers hidden amongst the hair. But no, Brother Paul seems wholly human ... at least, so far as Crow can see, not being tall enough to view the top of the fellow's head.
"Who [u]cares[/u] what the Dark Powers are? They're [i]bastards![/i] That's all I need to know of them." -- Crow
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