maskormods: (Default)
Mask or Menace | MODERATORS ([personal profile] maskormods) wrote in [community profile] maskormenacelogs2016-04-23 12:46 am
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FANPORT OVERFLOW LOG

WHO: ImPorts!
WHERE: Heropa's Convention Centre.
WHEN: April 14-16, from 9 AM - 12 AM every day.
WHAT: Registration is in motion alongside FanPort, the most popular imPort convention around! Come on in and see imPort-led panels, the artist's alley, cosplayers, and more! If you have any questions, or wish to amend the way we have written up your characters' panels, let us know here! The original log can be found HERE.
WARNINGS: None anticipated; please let us know if this should be changed.
protects_the_small: (Gone without a haircut)

[personal profile] protects_the_small 2016-05-04 03:21 am (UTC)(link)
[Kel tilts her head and looks at him, interested]

How would you say they differ?
vorbarra: (baobabble13)

[personal profile] vorbarra 2016-05-04 06:58 pm (UTC)(link)
I can't speak to how knights operate in your country, but Armsmen are a Count's private force, whose oath to their lord is seen as sufficient defense against even treason if they were operating under orders. There's a limit of twenty per Count. Historically they've often functioned as a defense against Imperial tyranny when necessary, though fortunately that's not something I've had to contend with.

[ Seeing as he's not a tyrant. ]

In practice they're... effectively members of the family. They and their families live with their liege-lord and operate as batmen, bodyguards and attendants.
protects_the_small: (Plenty of squires survive to knighthood)

[personal profile] protects_the_small 2016-05-04 07:08 pm (UTC)(link)
[Kel shakes her head]

Every fief has guards, depending on how rich they are, but I would say rarely do they become family... Perhaps in the older, richer fiefdoms.

[A small smile] -which mine is not.

Knights are usually the heirs, though if your family has enough money for armor, sending younger sons is common too. Pages train for four years in the palace, basic fighting and an education, then are squired for another four. Usually to a friend of the family, though knights will take an interest if they have a wish to teach. A knight's first loyalty is to their people if they're an heir and then to the Crown.
Edited 2016-05-04 19:09 (UTC)
vorbarra: (ether-bunny31)

[personal profile] vorbarra 2016-05-04 07:20 pm (UTC)(link)
[ He hadn't totally realized she has a fief, which reads to Gregor that she's the daughter of a District Count, making her higher up the rankings in his estimation than he'd previously assessed.

Knights as heirs is very surprising to him. ]
That's totally different, [ he admits ruefully. ] Count's heirs go through the military academy and serve once their schooling is finished, by convention though not law-- and before the academy, their education was through an apprenticeship system more like what you describe, but...

[ Gregor shakes his head. ] That's not what I was expecting. Vor would never become Armsmen; it's an honored position for proles, often veterans or former members of the municipal guard. They're lifetime appointments.
protects_the_small: (battle ready)

[personal profile] protects_the_small 2016-05-04 08:06 pm (UTC)(link)
[Kel frowns and shakes her head]

That sounds more like castle guards or.... Or the army. Those are for common folk, only the nobility may become knights. The Prince Heir must be knighted, if he couldn't pass his Ordeal of Knighthood, there's no way he would pass his Ordeal of Kingship.

[She grimaces slightly] -it may be my family is just odd. We were away from our fief for most of my childhood, and then I went to page training. I never got to know our people very well.
vorbarra: (ether-bunny30)

[personal profile] vorbarra 2016-05-04 08:29 pm (UTC)(link)
Well, I can't imagine Barrayar accepting an Emperor with no military experience whatsoever-- I did my two years-- but it's not knighthood.

May I ask why you were away from your lands?
protects_the_small: (Lady Knight)

[personal profile] protects_the_small 2016-05-04 08:55 pm (UTC)(link)
I suppose thats sensible. Did they let you fight or was it command? [Thinking of Roald and his layers of security]

Papa was the ambassador the the Yamani Islands. We moved there when I was five.
vorbarra: (realgirl08)

[personal profile] vorbarra 2016-05-04 09:09 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Gregor sighs and rubs at his jaw. She's really hit the nail on the head with that observation. ] I was a supposedly unremarkable Ensign and then Lieutenant who just so happened to be consistently assigned to safe desk positions and accidentally called sire instead of by rank.

--Being ambassador is usually a prestigious position, however. [ A bit of a questioning look. ]
protects_the_small: (cleans up nicely)

[personal profile] protects_the_small 2016-05-04 09:37 pm (UTC)(link)
[Kel winces in sympathy]

Seems a lot of pretense for such an open secret.

Oh, it wasn't entirely meant to be at first. We're a very new barony, you see, it was only my great-grandfather who was ennobled. But Papa helped to establish the embassy, since Tortall and the Yamanis haven't been on good terms until recently, and he did most of the work getting the marriage contract between Shinko and Roald arranged, [The slip of informality on their names is unintentional]and it put Mindelan in high favor with the Crown.

And that wouldn't have happened at all if Mama hadn't saved their sacred swords in a pirate attack.

[She's very proud of her parents]
vorbarra: (ether-bunny49)

[personal profile] vorbarra 2016-05-09 12:47 am (UTC)(link)
Ah, it wasn't meant to be a secret at all. More that our efforts to erase nepotism aren't progressing as quickly apace as I'd like.

[ Rueful self-consciousness there.

But he listens to this with thoughtful interest. ]
You take after your parents, I see. So your family was well-placed to be friendly with both sides. I can't find fault in the reasoning for such a posting at all.
protects_the_small: (rare smugness)

[personal profile] protects_the_small 2016-05-09 03:31 am (UTC)(link)
[Kel nods, somewhat more understanding]

Challenging noble privileges is something our king has had some trouble in doing. It's surprising, but his council of nobles dislikes the idea entirely.

[If a compliment to her can be attributed to her parents instead, it seems she is better at taking it]

Papa is a very good diplomat. And I suppose if the embassy had failed, there would be less shame to our house than to a higher ranking one.
vorbarra: (ether-bunny32)

[personal profile] vorbarra 2016-05-09 11:13 am (UTC)(link)
[ Gregor snorts. ]

Yes, completely shocking, [ he agrees, droll. ] Those with power not wanting to give it up.

I can't see how that's the case. Shame is shame. It's spread no less thick for you being relatively recently ennobled. You've as much honor to protect as any centuries-held barony.
protects_the_small: (wanna go a round?)

[personal profile] protects_the_small 2016-05-10 03:33 am (UTC)(link)
Almost as if they'd already spent so much time clinging to it.

[She shrugs]

Less people to care, you see. In any case, it worked out well. And I think-[her tone becomes slightly more thoughtful]-I think that having a second queen who is well trained in weapons will be good.
vorbarra: (ether-bunny60)

[personal profile] vorbarra 2016-05-10 04:10 am (UTC)(link)
You'll have to unpack that for me. A second queen?
protects_the_small: (I've noticed you going yellow at the edg)

[personal profile] protects_the_small 2016-05-10 04:16 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, the marriage that was arranged between Crown Prince Roald and Princess Shinkokami.

Yamani noblewomen are all trained in weapons as a matter of course, and Shinko-the princess's training practices with her ladies has become quite popular with some of the younger noblewomen.
vorbarra: (ether-bunny63)

[personal profile] vorbarra 2016-05-10 04:24 am (UTC)(link)
[ A soft laugh. ]

That's one way for me to speed things along. They keep urging me to do something meaningful politically with my marriage-- [ There's an almost dangerous spark in his eyes. ] Maybe I will.
protects_the_small: (not a good Yamani)

[personal profile] protects_the_small 2016-05-10 04:59 am (UTC)(link)
[Kel glances over as she considers this soft-spoken man she's come to respect very much. She doesn't often think of Gregor as an emperor, certainly not as much as she recalls that Lucy is a Queen... But forgetting he's royalty at least doesn't last long. She thinks back to the start of Roald and Shinko's betrothal, and how they had come to see each other as partners. Certainly Roald had much to live up to after his famous parents.

That brings up another memory, one of a meeting where the king and queen had glanced at another and decided to change a law because she'd told them it was bad.

Kel's silence lasts almost long enough to be awkward before she says very slowly]


I think if your marriage is something you can arrange yourself, you should, before anyone forces the issue. That nearly happened with our king, and I suspect that the conservatives would have been much happier for it. [Or possibly dead]

...And you ought to look for someone who's just as willing to put up a fight as you.
vorbarra: (icon6)

[personal profile] vorbarra 2016-05-12 06:54 pm (UTC)(link)
[ It's often remarked upon by Gregor's close friends that when you catch him alone, without the trappings of his station, he seems incredibly average. It's extremely easy to forget how much he lives under most of the time.

This question of marriage, though-- he laughs again, but this time darker, a quiet sound that quickly fades. ]


It's kind of you to worry about me, but you shouldn't. I have no intention of marrying anyone but who I please, when I please. [ There's something of an immovable object behind his eyes with this. ] I've given everything to the Imperium already; I'm the only Emperor they can agree on, and I have no heir.

But I'll be damned if I give them that, too. If they want me so badly, they can have me, on my terms.

[ And then there's how Miles fits into all this. Someone who's just as willing to put up a fight as he is, eh... He certainly fits that. Miles has been fighting far harder and longer than Gregor, really. But he isn't quite ready to approach that as a serious option, him marrying Miles. He still shies away from it mentally, whether he's technically given him a ring or not. ]
protects_the_small: (Knighthood is glorious)

[personal profile] protects_the_small 2016-05-12 11:48 pm (UTC)(link)
[Kel nods firmly]

Then I wish you all the luck, and pray you won't need it.

[And perhaps light a stick of incense to the Goddess in thanks that it isn't her job]
vorbarra: (icon-crack09)

[personal profile] vorbarra 2016-05-13 12:03 am (UTC)(link)
Thank you. ... I. Well. It might be moot, anyway.

[ Is talking about his love life appropriate with her? Gregor is always slow and reluctant to bring anyone into his 'inner circle', which is absolutely what you qualify as if he's speaking with you about his personal life. He temporizes with: ] It's been very different here.
protects_the_small: (yamani lump cracking wise)

[personal profile] protects_the_small 2016-05-13 12:11 am (UTC)(link)
[The idea of a marriage and love life being the same is still a radical notion over here]

That's an understatement in many areas.
vorbarra: (baobabble01)

[personal profile] vorbarra 2016-05-13 12:17 am (UTC)(link)
[ It's not totally radical on Barrayar, but it's fairly radical for the Emperor in particular. Gregor just doesn't care. ]

Yes-- absolutely. But among other things... [ A flicker of hesitation, before he skirts into this topic sideways, testing her receptiveness. ] My personal life is not a matter of public interest.
protects_the_small: (unimpressed)

[personal profile] protects_the_small 2016-05-13 12:25 am (UTC)(link)
[Kel grimaces]

Goddess no, it's bad enough when the palace gossips go at it.

[whooooshhhhhh]
vorbarra: (timegraphics02)

[personal profile] vorbarra 2016-05-13 12:27 am (UTC)(link)
[ Oh, Kel. But Gregor can't help but find her obliviousness sort of endearing. He so rarely gets exposed to it, and it's comforting, in a way, this proof that she's so unlikely to have ulterior motives.

With some curiosity: ]
Is that something you've had to deal with yourself? I notice you're on first name basis with the royal family. Both of them.
protects_the_small: (stop laughing before the soothing drinks)

[personal profile] protects_the_small 2016-05-13 01:06 am (UTC)(link)
[Kel ducks her head]

Only by some luck in timing. Roald was two years ahead of me in page training, and Shinko...was a childhood friend. I didn't know she was part of the Emperor's family until she arrived in Tortall.

[Sliding past that question about gossip]

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