(1875-04-16) The Grass is Not Greener
The Grass is Not Greener
Summary: Dovi and Ivo catch up for the first time after Hellsmouth split from Aequor
Date: 16/04/2019
Related: Senate of the West
NPCs: None
Players:
Ivo  Ludovic  

Hellsmouth Countryside - Small Port
A small fishing port close by to Hellsmouth Docks
16/04/1875

It's been a few months since Ivo was last bringing Ocean Seeker alongside at Hellsmouth docks, but even in that small amount of time he can sense a change in the atmosphere. Everyone onboard is tense, some of the more religious have been muttering about even being here at all, but they're on a mission of mercy and that seems to be quelling the disquiet at least for now.
With holds full of basic foods and medicines for the refugees, whichever merchant had decided they needed a favour from the Reliants has sent a few of their own heavies to ensure the cargo reaches it's destination rather than simply being absorbed into Imperial supplies. They've been well enough behaved so far, but he's still not looking forward to explaining their presence to the dockside authorities. Hopefully, if The One decides to give the endeavour his blessing, then no one will say or do anything dumb until it's not his problem anymore.
As the last mooring lines are made fast he heads for the gangway, torn between wanting to be alongside for as short a time as possible and a desire to see how his old friend is doing. Noting those on the quayside who look to be wanting passage elsewhere he instructs his Mate to see how many they could take, and what the going rate is. No point leaving with empty holds if there's something he can carry without risking the wrath of the inquisition after all.

It’s a sailor that comes on up to Ivo and hands him a message before giving that expectant look. You know the one? The I expect payment one. The note just says. "Figure you might not want to meet but I'm at Smallport if you do. Grail."

Ivo eyes the sailor for a moment and almost deflects him onto the Mate, but in the end takes the note and reads it before handing it back. There's nothing like incriminating evidence is there. A coin in fetched from his pouch and passed across and then he turns his attentions back to the job at hand. The merchant's heavies form a loose cordon on the quayside while the cargo is offloaded and he leaves it up to them to argue with the Imperial Officials as to where it will end up. He's got it as far as he's paid to. With the holds empty he stands by the gunwale as those leaving for a new home start to board. He's got men keeping an eye out for troublemakers and they take a number who can pay their passage, along with a smaller number who can't. Once satisfied they're settled on board he heads aft to rouse the sailing master. "We're loaded with loyalists," he's careful of his phrasing, "but there's apparently more wanting transport from Smallport, do you know it?" Receiving a nod of confirmation he orders, "lets cast off and be gone from here then, before the Imperials start getting any ideas about our hull. We'll stop off at this Smallport on the way back to Fiorello."

Smallport isn’t a place where merchant vessels usually stop. It is just too close to Hellsmouth City and the major port there. But the port is capable of taking in larger ships for overnighting during storms, even if it is little more than a hub for fishing boats during typical use. More relevantly though the town has clearly been sacked within the last week or so. There are a number of thatched roofs that still show soot stained holes and a certain edge of wariness about the soldiers that are walking around. Not only that but the soldiers are actual soldiers and not the typical militia you'd expect. Amongst all this is Ludovic d'Korbina, decked out in his full horned knight regalia, discussing something rather passionately with another of his party. That ends as the ship turns to port though and, after lifting a hand to shadow his eyes, he starts down towards the dock. There’s a bounce in his step. "Captain Ivo!" He lifts a hand to wave from the dock. "I'm pleased you could come assist."

Ivo's crew have seen violence and its aftermath before, but there's a few gasps from amongst those they've taken onboard at the sight of the town. There's also one old man who starts yelling that they've been betrayed, and that they're to be handed over to the 'horned traitor' for daring to leave, but thankfully he is quickly shushed.
Eyeing the soldiers cautiously as the gangway is lowered Ivo heads for the quayside, accompanied by two of his more experienced men, although as he approaches Dovi he signals for them to wait, close enough so they can spring into action, but just about out of earshot. "Your Grace," he greets formally, and while his posture and body language is all tense there is at least an air of friendliness to his tone. "You know if this is anything more than a passing conversation then I'm going to need to challenge you to a duel, for appearances sake." Yes, his crew are loyal, but stories spread, and sailors cannot stop telling stories.

Ludovic scoffs. "Since when did i deserve that title? Deserve it even less now. I'm not even sure its right to call me 'my lord'." He is just about to go slap Ivo on the back when he catches up with the challenge thing. He stops, lifts an eyebrow, and then shrugs. "You know I won’t turn down a challenge. Is this gonna be the same sort of challenge that I’ve got with Myrana?"

"I'm unsure of the correct method of address is for you new rank," Ivo admits with a wry smile, "so I went for the safer option." Tilting his head back towards the ship he continues, "we've got some of yours onboard wanting out. Not a flood per-say, but if the numbers we saw alongside are any indication you might start to struggle once there's labouring work to be done." Dovi likely already knows, but he gives the heads up just in case, followed by, "what happened here?" As for the challenge he shrugs slightly, "I was thinking more we put on a bit of a show for the spectators, the loyal captain makes a valiant effort against the renegade traitor, but one is a sailor and one a seasoned soldier with a ruddy great axe-thing, so it only goes one way in the end. I've covered my obligation, you get to show you're up for defending your lands, just…" he grins in amusement, "just don't ruin my pretty face."

Ludovic turns to look across the town. "Qatunax raided." he sounds grumpy about that. "Not had anything this big this far west before and it wasn’t the normal sort so I’m guessing that means they finished their arguments and worked out who's in charge now." He shifts the weapon in question up onto his shoulder. "We caught up with them. So we've got about everything they took back but, well, aint really the same is it?"
He gives a low sigh. "Really don’t feel like fighting you Ivo. So.. hows about you just punch me and we call it done?"

"Good," Ivo replies simply, "because I can't say I was exactly keen on fighting you either. It's just appearances and… you know what I mean." Politics, he is rapidly coming to hate it. As for the Qatunax, well he looks around the village again, eying the damaged caused and nodding slowly. "Darius made an impassioned plea for unity in the fight against them at the senate in Four Corners," he relays, "You'll get some extra help, but others tried to hijack it for their own gain. A Reliance Knight seemed to think it more useful to call a crusade against Eosphora and did his best to convince the Rikton delegates to recall the swords of the faithful to that end. He got no traction at senate, but with talk like that he could incite a mob or two." Troubling, but for now a distraction. "Anyway, you holding up okay?"

Ludovic shrugs at the news about Eosphora. "I heard Eosphora declared religious freedom. Seems to me they deserve a crusade." He looks back to Ivo for a long time before slowly shaking his head. "No. Not really. I mean. I'm doing alright. This is me, you know? But this whole situation just keeps getting worse and worse and I can’t help but feel it’s my fault."

"Do you think such a crusade would stop at the destruction of Eosphora though?" Ivo asks, in a tone that suggests he doesn't. "Now, such a moment against the Qatunax, that would be useful, but the chances of them getting distracted en-route are high." He doesn't reply to Dovi's answer though, not immediately. It'd be all too easy to quip back with a quick 'told you', but he's not going to kick a man while he's down. "While it's true you do bare some of the responsibility for the current situation, it's only that part with directly pertains to your actions. The rest is for your conscience only in so much as how you respond to it. If you give up in defeat then anything afterwards will be your fault. Keep forging on though, one way or another, and if you take the actions you think best for your people, then that will weigh in your favour in the end." Maybe.

"No." Ludovic sighs. "And Darius has been enforcing some fascial religious freedom policy of his own."
He looks back to Ivo. "Yeah. I know that doing nothing wasn't a choice. But this whole situation. The excommunication. The news Altair gave me about the king acting to undermine his own anti-sorcery laws. The fact Jasmina, the liege who told me she couldn’t and wouldn’t protect and support me when I asked, went and declared herself queen over the very same thing she refused to support me over. It’s all" He grunts. "I feel like I'm in a great big castle made up of doors and every day more and more of them slam shut and I’m already down to a single room and there’s almost nowhere left to go."

"The King?" Ivo asks with a tilt of his head, it's clearly news to him and he's curious to know what his cousin has said. "I know that some head of houses have been finding inventive ways to spare their serfs from the Inquisition, but what has his Majesty been doing?" As for the door metaphor he lifts one hand to gesture towards the sorcerous hammer/axe/thing, "start making new doors then. Easier said than done I appreciate, but sometimes you have to get inventive."

Ludovic turns and starts to walk, his pace slow enough, and his body language saying that he'd like Ivo to walk with him. "He said the King had introduced a new law that said that when a sorcerers face was covered he was no longer identifiable and therefore couldn't be punished for sorcery." He shakes his head. "I feel such a hypocrite for wanting to protect against the inquisition. I can’t even convince myself that what they say about sorcery being evil is even wrong. The imperial priests are just as bad as the western ones. All they want is to dominate the faithful and be the 'one true message'."
He sighs and adds "The princepsa is being intolerable. It’s like every time I try to act she acts to subdue me. Like everything I believe is wrong and, not just that, but stupid too. That I’m doing badly by my new liege when I'm doing everything I can to honour my oaths. But I don't agree with half of this stupid culture. The idea of their being freedom inside it is practically farcical." He grimaces. "But at least I thought that was the case before I agreed. You know they forced me to declare all my peasants are citizens with the same rights as anyone else. That the nobles aren't any better than them even. Just men and women who've earned their status through grand deeds. Then they insist that I just conscript anyone who doesn't want to work."
"And they use sorcery on the battlefield in a way that changes the whole thing from an area of honour and justice and just turns the whole concept of warfare into nothing but.. Well just imagine it. Two armies lined up against each other. Men standing on the lines for the strength of their houses. And then, just like that, a whole section dissolves into a morass of molten rock and fire. I can’t deny it works. It’s just. Wrong."
"Found myself dreaming that Aequor had approached me over a solution instead of just throwing everything they had at me again. But there’s nothing I can do about that. I'm the least free person here."

Ivo hhmms slightly, the decides it's better to shatter Dovi's illusion than to lie to him. "That's not the King's law," he says quietly, falling into step, "but my uncle's. A half mask, of the sort you might wear for a ball, is considered enough that an accuser cannot be sure of the identity of the sorcerer and thus the charge will not stand without other evidence. If the King knows of it and allows it I have no idea, I've not heard either way." As for the rest? He's not sure what to say, so he listens in silence, although he can't quite supress a shudder at the description of the militarisation of their shared curse.
"What is the phrase," he starts, wracking his brain, "out of the frying pan and into the fire? I'm sorry we lost you from the kingdom, but sorrier that it hasn't brought you the promised rewards." There are loads of other phrases springing to mind 'the grass is always greener' 'burning your bridges' etc, but he keeps them to himself and drops silent again for a while. "You cannot abandon your land and people, I won't even suggest it to you, which means you're stuck. From what I saw in Hellsmouth it would be difficult to remove the Imperial presence, they seem to have get their claws in hard and fast, and I guess you have no stomach to join with Eosphora given their previous lack of support… I think the best thing I can advise is to keep your contacts friendly along the river. Don't piss off Four Corners, or my uncle. There might not be much to be done now, but prove a good neighbour to them and opportune moments may arise in future. In the meantime, you just have to keep your chin up, keep doing what you can, and watch."

Ludovic smiles for a moment when Ivo tells Ludovic that what he heard about the law was wrong. He gives a low chuckle even. Then he looks kinda guilty for it. "Relieved. I was horrified to think I'd done all this over a law I could bypass with nothing but a helmet. But." he clears his throat. "I gotta admit that’s kinda.. It woulda been nice for you all if it had been true you know?"
He sighs a bit. "Don't get me wrong Ivo. I don't feel like refusing to obey an unjust law was wrong. Its kneeling to Darius I sometimes regret. But then I ask myself what else I coulda done and all those options are just as bad."
He gives Ivo a serious look. "Are you really suggesting I turn traitor again?" He shakes his head. "Doesn't really matter what I do about Four Corners or d'Armaz Ivo. I've barely enough power left to ensure I can keep my word about them being free and see these people board a ship."

"I'm not suggesting anything," Ivo states, mirroring the serious expression, "but these are turbulent times. Keeping your neighbours close, even if they hold different allegiances, can be the difference between life and death sometimes. You have been branded all sorts of things, but if you keep up the work to keep the river clear of raiders for example, then I know there are those who will be grateful. Quietly grateful perhaps, but that’s the sort of thing that gets remembered. Little things, like picking up a crew from a foundering ship and sending them home, that sort of thing means they'll do the same for you and yours. Let them be conscripted into the legions though, and hate will fester."

"Yeah." Ludovic says slowly. "Anytime I want to just give up everything and go hand myself over to the church I remember that its me that folks trust. And Teleko's still out there."

Ivo pulls a face at the mention of Teleko, but then does recall something else from the senate that might be of use. "Oh, don't know if you heard, but it was mentioned that Teleko is in league with the Qatunax, or allied, or whatever, and that seemed news to a lot of people. It'll likely help in gaining more troops and resources to fight them, and might even deflect at least some of the church's attention. On the other hand, they might start trying to insist that they're leading the fight and then get picky about who they're fighting alongside." He shrugs, "I don't know how they think in Rikton, I can't say what they'll do, I can but speculate based on what I saw."

"There more evidence of that than what I provided?" Ludovic asks Ivo seriously before sighing. "Been telling folks he attacked me in my own home alongside the qatunax ever since it happened, give or take. It just seems strange they'd finally start talking about that now."

"Myrana mentioned it towards the end," Ivo replies simply, "there wasn't much time for them to question the source of her information but they seemed to accept her as reliable enough." He shrugs again, "from the reaction I think a lot of them had missed you saying it entirely, particularly the Galentians, one of them was most perturbed."

"Yeah. Well. Nobody listens to Ludovic." He just gives a devil-may-care smile. "But then I reckon everyone already knew that." He reaches over to give Ivo's shoulder a heavy pat. "Can't tell you how good its been to see you. You wanna drink? Or are you gonna be ferrying these people over the river most of the day?" he seems to think of something and goes hunting around his person before finally coming out with a small pouch that holds three gemstones. "Here. Use this to pay for the ones who can't pay themselves. Nobody should have to give up everything they own just to get across a river."

"Do I want a drink?" Ivo starts, in a tone that suggests he's going to regretfully decline, "very much so, but I have other tasks waiting for me and can't tarry long enough to enjoy one properly. One day though, one day we can continue your gin education." He eyes the gems for a moment then slips them into his pouch with a nod, "consider it done. If there's any my uncle can find work for, I'll see they're gainfully employed. Any sailors amongst them shouldn't want for work at least." Then, sensing a natural end, he nods his head as respectfully as he reckons he can get away with given the audience, then takes his leave. "Look after yourself. There's every chance I'll be back with other cargos, but I can't say when that might be. If you've more wanting to leave then send word and we can take them, but it's hard to just be around here on-spec these days. People will ask questions, and as you know, I can't afford to draw suspicion."

"Don’t force them into Aequor either." Ludovic tells Ivo. "Some of them are going to want to go to Four Corners." He shakes his head. "Anyone who wants to go to Galenthia can walk." He takes a moment and then says. "We're gonna need food. If not me then Paras. So you can bring as much as you want and I can pretty much guarantee to buy it. Long as it’s not stupidly overpriced." He shrugs at the suspicion thing. "Just wear that mask and use a fake name. If it can save you from a declaration of sorcery I’m sure it can keep you from being declared a traitors friend."
Ludovic clears his throat. "And besides. If questioned. You can always claim you're just spying on me."

Taking them on to Four Corners is extra," Ivo states deadpan, even going so far as to hold out his hand for more gems before he can't keep his face straight any longer. "I'll see what I can do, but I don't know how much control I'll have. I can certainly make sure they get the best chance though." There's a faint smile at the mention of the mask though and he notes, "not right now I couldn't, they've all seen me, but something to keep in mind for the future certainly. For now though, I should go, we're losing the flood and it'll be tricky over the shallows if she," the river, "ebbs too much before we get there."

Ludovic chuckles and rolls his eyes. "Look. It will take me a while to make more. You'll have to come back." he smirks. "With an invoice. Which you'll have to take through Lisbeth." because apparently Ludovic thinks Lisbeth is the scariest part of that whole prospect. He offers Ivo a handshake. "Thanks for taking this on." He starts back towards the ship. "Takes a weight off my shoulder knowing you're looking after them. See you soon alright?" And with a last smile and nod he turns off to get back to the business of repairing the towns defences.

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