(1875-04-08) The Mask Law
The Mask Law
Summary: Altair tells Ludovic about the sub-law that lets masked sorcerers use their magic without consequence.
Date: 8th April 2019
Related: 1875-1-27-magi-and-men.
NPCs: None
Players:
Altair  Ludovic  

Room Name
Room description
IC date of RP

It's been a while since Altair got out of Daniffen Pass. He also seems to be finding himself in his armor more often than not these days. Looking like some sort of dragon knight, his black, lightsilver-lined armor is styled with segmented plate and leather patterned like dragon scale. His helmet, which he keeps under his arm when he's not about to go into battle, is itself styled like a dragon's head, the face meant to show through the serpent's maw when the helmet is open.

Altair's long, silver hair flows behind him as he walks along, caught in the prevalent wind of the day as he moves along, loking over stalls, shopping perhaps for nothing in particular.

Ludovic on the other hand looks as if he just walked out of one of his herdsmens villages. Kind of anyway. Its unlikely many of them have access to the same quality of blackwork embroidery and silk for their sashes. Theres no armor, his hair has grown down to his shoulders, the missing eye now shows grey stone behind the eyelid and he's still wearing both his spurs and his knightly belt-shield. The czekan, glassy and black, is in his hands but the way he's holding it is in no way threatening. It even has a leather cap on to protect the bladed edge from the surroundings.. or perhaps the surroundings from the edge.

"Good day Altair." He says from a short distance behind Altair. "I dont think we've talked you since the attack."

The towering dragon warrior turns to looks to Ludovic, arching a brow at the man, eyeing him carefully. "Technically, I shouldn't be talking to you… You are a traitor to Aequor, and to His Majesty…" he starts off, deadly serious. He's quite armed, that sidhe steel glaive of his resting across his back, making him look even taller and more imposing than he really is. "That said, Four Corners is a place of peace and neutrality, where all can come and discuss…" he says before leaving Ludovic with the longest pause.

"It's good to see you, Ludovic," he says with a touch of a smile as he takes a step closer to his fellow mage. "I wish I knew *why* you decided to pull away from Aequor, but I'm sure you must have had a good reason…?" he asks, a curiosity that's been bothering him for some time now.

"Reckon the question is more how did you stay." Ludovic offers Altair a generous handshake and then nods towards a eatery a kaffe house not to far away. "But ask away. I've little to hide. So." he starts. "You know i'm a sorcerer?" its weird to see him saying that in a place where he could be overheard. "And you know the king has been killing them. And you know that my people know what I am. I reckon you can guess the rest." He looks to Altair. "Simple fact is I wasnt willing to let the inquisition step foot on my land and I sure as hell wasnt going to wait for them to start hauling people off before I acted. Wrote a letter to the King. You know the rest."

Altair takes the hand in his, returning the handshake heartily, before nodding and moving in the direction of kaffe. "I remember that night…" he says gently with a nod. "And you know what I am. I mean, after the war against Rikton and Kentaire, who doesn't?" he asks rhetorically before he continues. "I'm not sure if that's why the Church is taking a hands off approach with me, or if there's another reason. I'm one of those that can't hide it. I'm also one of those that did as much as he could for family and nation. I don't think His Majesty is killing people. I think something has forced him to give into the Inquisition. I dint know what has brought all this about, but for now, I try to do what I can from within the system rather than from the outside."

He glances at his dragon helmet, a somewhat recent addition to his armor that Ludovic perhaps hasn't seen before. He lifts it from under his arm, offering it to Ludovic. "By King Maris' laws, when I put this helmet on, I am no longer identifiable. To anyone. Not even the Inquisition, as far as I'm aware. I was offered a simple masquerade mask that would have been enough by His law, but I went with something that fit better with my armor. As long as my face is covered, I can continue using every tool at my disposal to assist Aequor. As inconceivable as it sounds, even though everyone knows who is underneath the helmet. I think he did that for a reason. Not because he wants to kill every mage out there, but in fact because he's trying to protect them while at the same time cooperate with the Inquisition for what reason I cannot fathom at this time."

"You think you deserve to be immune more than I do?" Ludovic asks bluntly. He shakes his head. "Doesnt matter why the Kings doing it Altair. It's wrong. Nobody can just stop being a sorcerer. Its not like we got to sign an agreement first." He lifts an eyebrow at the helmet. "He wrote a law saying that a mask would make you innocent?"

Altair shakes his head slowly. "You know that every sorceror… By the One how I hate that name… Every "Sorceror" cannot simply stop being a Sorceror. However, most Sorcerors usually have some if not a lot of control over when their power is being used. Wearing a mask doesn't make you innocent, but if I understand the law correctly, one must witness you using magic in order to be apprehended for magic use. If you wear a mask that hides a portion of your face, then even if someone points at you and says 'He was using magic!' if the next question 'Was he wearing a mask when the magic was being woven?' is answered in the affirmative, then the witness is invalidated. He didn't see you. He saw someone in a mask use the magic."

Ludovic looks dubious. "So basically you're saying that every sorcerer is perfectly safe as long as they wear a mask? But what about all the other ways the inquisition have to work it out?" He frowns and adds. "I'm sorry. I just /cant/ let myself believe I could have just worn a party mask and everything would have been fine."

Altair gives a shrug of those broad, armored shoulders of his, shaking his head slowly. "I'm not going to say that it's going to completely thwart the Inquisition. I'm still not sure how much the Inquisition needs to work within King Maris' law structure and with his lawkeepers, or how much they're working outside of his laws inside his lands. As far as I know, the law remains untested and I do think if it ever is, this whole thing is going to come to an ugly head. Especially if they try and go after an unwaveringly faithful war veteran, of which I'm sure there are several within Aequor's ranks. Many a strange thing occurred during that war, and while we don't know *who* the source of a lot of it was, I would bet you several of them were mages in Aequor's employ. I just happened to be the most visible, falling with style like I was so often."

"I'm grateful for the information." Ludovic's cheer has faded away. "Its got to be useful." He pauses to ask for some kaffe for them both and then looks back to Altair. "Hows your lovely wife?"

Altair lowers his head gratefully to the Kaffe vendor before glancing back at Ludovic, then up at his hair for a moment. "She hasn't turned my hair blue yet, thank goodness," he says with a smile. "She's doing well. Working on new alchemical projects that she generally refuses to tell me about. Sometimes I think she's afraid, if I knew what it was she was working on, I'd ask her to stop. She's a strong-willed woman."

"All of the good ones are." Ludovic tells Altair. "Is that the thing you worry about most?" A smile. "Waking up to find your hairs gone blue?" he chuckles softly. "Gotta admit I used to worry about waking up without a beard."

Altair laughs to that and nods gently. "I cannot disagree with you." He then pauses for a moment, tilting his head. "Your beard missing?" he asks, his expression curious. "There must be a story behind this one."

"A fear is all." ludovic tells Altair. "Its not happened since I was a boy and couldnt honestly call it a beard anyway." he strokes at the dark hairs. "Course in those days there weren't any white ones in there neither." He squints the stone eye closed and looks over at Altair. "Maybe I should get some of that blue hair stuff you're so afraid of."

Altair eyes Ludovic a moment, one eye narrowing while the other widens, looking dramatically critical. "Going to hide the white behind some blue? Planning on taking up pirating under the nickname of 'Bluebeard'…?"

"More like the Blue Bull." Ludovic gestures as he declares the name. Smiling easily along with it. "But maybe you're right. Aint far from blue bull to things I wouldnt want to be called. And who cares about a bit of white anyway?" A quick grin to Altair "Not you for sure." He leans back in his chair. "So now we know we probably wont be enemies. What next?"

Altair hmmmms at that, reaching up and scratching at the back of his head. "I seem to remember a character from a story… I think his name was Babe, the Big, Blue Ox… I'm really not sure blue would be your color, no." He then laughs and shakes his head. "So when my hair starts going blond, then I know I'm getting old." He leans back in his own chair, taking a long draught of his kaffe, before he shakes his head. "Hopefully not, if I can help it. You've put yourself in quite the pickle though, a lordship on its own wedged between former employer on one side and everyone's enemies on the other. If Aequor ever manages to get enough troops together to do something more than defend its own current boundaries…" he says with a soft sigh. "But no, We're not enemies, certainly not here. This is a place of discussion and peace, where we should be able to talk things out. As for what's next… What's on your mind?"

"We're imperial now." Ludovic tells Altair. "Because it seems that whilst Aequor couldnt be bothered to muster enough men to kick out the qatunax they were more than willing to throw a couple of thousand at me." He stops, grunts, and then admits. "Dont think it was anywhere near enough to beat me. I just couldnt tolerate the idea of fighting them for what? My staying leader in my own lands? Wasnt worth it." He shrugs. "Whats next? Depends how you're asking. In the big sense its battling the Qatunax. Three and a half more fiefs to take and we'll have our old borders back. Well. Cept for the fact a big piece of its vir sidus now but its not like anyone was lining up to help me remove them anyway."

Altair arches a brow at that, tilting his head slowly. "Can't say that I've had much interaction with the Vir Sidus since they energed from isolation, myself. What little I have had with them was friendly enough, but that was a LONG while back. Before borders started to shift." He then tilts his head a touch. "If you're Imperial now, doesn't that mean that except for what the Quatunax holds, it's all Vir Sidus? What's their prevailing opinion on sorcery and mages?"

"They think sorcery is a tool." Ludovic tells Altair. "And that tools should be used to their maximum advantage." he shrugs. "They've entire cohorts dedicated to sorcerers and schools and even books on it. Theres actually a church of the vir sidus faith here in Four Corners, or at least there will be. You could ask them." His mouth twists a little. "Cant say they are much better than our own but at least they dont declare me unsaveable and try to chop my head off. As for what they are like. They are just people. They're treating us fine and unlike aequor they're actually doing stuff about getting rid of the qatunax. We already retook one lordship this year. I reckon we'll take the other, and whats left of Paras' lands, before the summers got properly going. Quite a difference huh? Do you remember Alia? She managed to make herself the queen.. well Princepsa. Its empress really."

Altair blinks at that several times, arching a brow slowly. "Despite the actions of the Church and of the Inquisition, I'm still a practicing follower of the One. I've managed to put a separation between what I believe and what others falsely do in the One's name. It doesn't mean I'm not curious though, and may have to drop by this Church of the Vir Sidus once it sets up shop. As for they're making progress where Aequor has not, be careful. You could be removing the Lion just to have the Wolf take its place. They will both eat your sheep in equal measure. That said, I'm always open to learning more. Their methods at least sound more progressive, in more ways than one, than the current administrations." He looks into his now empty cup of kaffe and sets it aside, coming to stand. "I should probably be getting back. Make sure Zahara hasn't blown up the apartment," he says with a laugh.

Ludovic shrugs. "They both worship the One. Most of the differences are just because they've just had different high priests for generations. Not that I had much choice in going over there. The Rikton high priest excommunicated me, so theres no solace to be had from them." He looks at Altair. "You're forgetting something Altair. I was the lion sitting watching the flock whilst the wolves roamed but now I'm a wolf too. Maybe i'm not entirely comfortable in this skin. But its what I am now." He moves to his feet when Altair tells him he has to go and nods. "Yeah. I've an meeting scheduled with Elixane I'd not miss. We'll talk again. Come join the war if you can."

Altair hmmmms to that and nods slowly. "We'll see what happens. Until then, good luck out there. I wish you the best." He smiles and gives Ludovic another hearty handshake before he moves off for his home in Four Corners.

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