Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Speaker A: You're listening to the all night Society, an actual play podcast brought to you by Queen's court games.
Ivy Larue sits in the library, writing a desk older than the house it matches and the bookshelves it's surrounded by. The desk is mahogany, victorian in style. The wood has some chipped lacquer. In time, Ivy will require it be stripped and redone. The brass handles are oxidized, though it's clear that some attempt has been made to clean them up unfairly recently.
The drawers are neat and orderly, a place for everything and everything in its place.
She skips past the drawers containing modern rolling ball gel pens and opens the lower, which contains an ink pot and a box with a small assortment of flight feathers from owls, crows, and geese.
Tonight calls for a large crow feather, and she sets it on the desk along with a sheet of vellum. Her hand begins to write in perfect calligraphy.
[00:01:39] Speaker B: My dearest sire, my apologies if the information herein has been rendered obsolete by the time this letter arrives, but I know your special affection for a well crafted letter and presume any matters of true urgency will have been communicated via our usual means. On that point, you can trust that my diligence and loyalty remain unquestionable. Our goals, as always, are identical, which provides, I suppose, the most appropriate place to begin.
As you know, the regent has deemed it appropriate to shackle me to the service of our ducheski revenants.
Although the manor leaves much to be desired by way of maintenance and decor, this new responsibility has not otherwise affected my productivity or my studies. The ducheski are poor company. Only Grigor feels sufficiently bold to speak without first being addressed, and they prefer to occupy themselves with their books and contraptions. Save for the additional expenditure of vida and the consequent hunting required, they demand little. Thus, as punishments go, this assignment would appear to fall on the slider end. No doubt du Sable has a great many insufferable tasks he could lay upon my shoulders, and to be clear, his frequent summons to the chantry provide ample opportunity for my superior to prove his creativity in this field.
I can only assume, then, that my reassignment to the manor has more to do with distancing me from our clan and its activities than claiming further monopoly over my time.
I am, of course, not so bold as to claim a thomaturge of his power, fears my own expertise or influence.
I will leave such radimentade to my tutor if she desires it.
But isolated though I may be from the chantry, the same cannot be said for the court.
I dare not speculate as to the nature of your involvement in my being assigned as Prince Jackson's preferred erndes, but he has indeed come to rely on my skills in situations that require intellect, patience, and discretion.
This includes the handling of the Lasambra delegation, of course, and the subsequent exposure and conviction of the lunatic primigen. Though the circumstantial evidence discovered in Lakeshore Hospital would have likely proven sufficient to secure a trial, the whole of Chicago's primagin council knows that it was my thalmaturgical skill that confirmed Jason Newberry's involvement and denied him the COVID of plausible deniability.
To be frank, the fact that Newberry yet lives insofar as he can after the atrocities he committed not only to the people of Chicago but also those he attempted upon my own existence is vexing.
I expected a heavier hand from the court, and the fact that they've rendered such a trifling punishment leads me to question whether the court truly has what's best for the city's inhabitants in mind, or if it is all for show, when in actuality they favor protecting those who act against its denizens, so long as their status is high enough.
Regardless, the outcome has endeared me to Sierra van Burris, with her brother rendered unto Ash and Chicago's endemic La Sambra. Not quite prepared to officially reveal themselves to the court, I expect she will soon make a play for her own seat among the primigen. It is for this reason alone that I continue to entertain her courtesy. Should the prince relent, then our relationship will prove most beneficial, even if I am forced into continued association with her subordinate as a result.
Yes, Maya continues to exist, her banishment having appeared to be overturned by the Amici. I look forward to the night when I am no longer burdened by her presence. But alas, that night appears, for now at least, to be delayed.
After the outcome of the newberry hearing, Rebecca could no longer abide the primigent council and absconded to Arizona with but a simple letter detailing her intentions. I cannot say that I will miss the screeches of her raptor. And, susceptible as she was to the suggestions of the anarchs in the city, it's likely for the best that she has forsaken her flock, and the coterie Joshua remains ever engrossed in his duties as the prince's loyal lapdog. Suffice it to say, this means we are rarely in the same place at the same time, which has made keeping a watchful eye on him more difficult.
Not impossible, of course, for I am still me. It just demands more of an investment than previously anticipated.
Schmendrick has proven more perplexing than originally believed. An outwardly friendly, albeit disgusting face. I have not yet discerned what it is she hopes to achieve here in Chicago. While she has never struck me as the sort to merely sit by and let things happen, rather preferring to be involved in any amount of general chaos, she nevertheless chooses to offer the most non aligned opinion on any given topic. But I've never known a kindred to be able to keep their secrets forever. So until then, I will bide my time and play along with her games.
But that's plenty enough gossip from me. As you have made clear in our decades together, speculation as to the vagaries of kindred social exploits are a distraction better fit for the degenerates and blue bloods. There is one final pair of matters involving the chantry, of which I feel obligated to inform you. Erykto remains mostly out of reach, choosing to live and work outside the chantry's purview.
Allowing her such freedom, however, may prove to be the region's undoing.
Regardless of Joshua's speculation, it was confirmed that Eryktho assisted a handful of lesser rogue tramire by supplying the thalmaturgical prowess, which allowed the Gary Coterie to assume the form of Charles Dawson.
Du Sable's inability to properly oversee the clan, small as it is, does not bode well for his time in this city, an idea supported by Prince Jackson's rather lackluster job hiding his displeasure as the news arose during the trial. Sun Che sees the cracks in the foundation, as I do, and I have plans to endear myself to her now that the smoke is clearing. I will be working to garner her support in the potential ousting of the chantry's figurehead in the hopes that one who is better suited to the job, one who works with the clan's best interests in mind, will find her way to that seat.
Of course, Erytha was the previous favorite for that position, but after all that has been brought to light, I do not believe she is a relevant threat.
We cannot return to Las Vegas anytime soon. Of that I am certain. And I know better than to squander the time I must spend in Chicago until you return. Which is why I am laying the groundwork for reconstruction.
I see this chantry becoming the shining beacon to which the council can compare all others with previous slates wiped clean. I see no reason this cannot be our legacy within the clan.
Should your plans bring about your return before this goal is realized, however, no, I will not hesitate to leave this chantry and all its obstacles behind to return to your side, wherever these roads may lead us eternally. Your daughter and student, Ivy.
[00:10:07] Speaker C: You've been listening to the all night Society, an actual play podcast brought to you by Queen's court games.
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