RP:Ascertaining An Accord

Part of the Welcome To The End Of Eras Arc

Summary:Langley divulges to Kasyr that she wants what was promised to her by Larewen Dragana, as the elder vampire did not come through with anything she promised, as per usual. The two eventually come to an understanding.

Shattered Halls of Darkness, Vailkrin Castle

Langley || The trick to dealing with guards was to generally just behave like you were supposed to be there and name drop one or two important names. Generally, the lowly peon types were very quick to allow passage for fear of reprisal. This strategy was made all the easier by the fact that the person that Langley had come to see had quite the reputation for thoroughly outclassing most people. So it was doubtless that they would likely just shrug and let Langley keep going, lowly Markan lab monkey or not.

So Langley did not even stop walking as she approached the castle in her finest sunday dress, all buttoned up and looking like quite the distinguished business woman. "I have an appointment with Kasyr." She would say firmly but politely to any guard that glanced her way. There were some strange looks given, of course. It was an odd sight to see a Markan out and about. They tended to cloister away in their labs. And it was an odder sight to behold that this particular Markan came with a cohort of crows and ravens. So many bird, squawking and clicking as if singing some cacophonous song of heraldry.

Kasyr may have been intending on greeting the head of house Markan, but that din't mean he was prepared for members of that house to simply drop in uninvited. "What do you mean they're already inside? Did I -say- I was expecting anyone? Did you even ask them their name, or what their business was?" He's trying not to have a small conniption, but given there is a literal hole in reality near the front of the castle from a recent fight with an uninvited guest, it would be nice if the staff showed a modicum of, "Competence is so hard to find." The revenant isn't even aware at this point, that he's exuding rivulets of tenebrous power from his being, or corroding the very floor he's standing on. He's too busy marvelling at the whole of things, "For the love of Daedria, make yourself useful and get me a few bottles of Bloodwine. Different vintages, s'il te plait. If this is official business we can at least be cordial." And if it isn't- he'll be able to sneak in a swig of booze before he opens up the interlopers gullet. It's tha morbidly reassuring though that finally settles him again, and causes that growing ire to withdraw as quickly as it had come.

And it's on this cheery note that he directs another servant to fetch his 'guest'- not realizing that it wasn't a singular individual. No, it's not long before there's a squeaking parade of corvids cawing as though they were carolers- announcing Langleys presence long before they'd wind a corner. It actually has the swordsman second guessing the small meeting room he was setting up so they could chat, and get to the inevitiable business/assassination/complaint/whatever-else-it-may-be. "Actually." One of the windows in the meeting room is opened, and then gestured at the moment Langley introduces themself to the chamber, "Your entourage, S'il te plait. I'm trying not to overtax the cleaners more than needed, et they already exist in proximity to me." It's only after they've been hopefully vacated from the area that he'll actually bother to take a seat and make with his half of the introductions, "Kasyr Azakhaer. Et tu would be?"

Langley truly never could resist the urge to make an entrance. The chaos that she seemed to have cause with her arrival did not go unnoticed and it brought to her lips a slight smirk. But entrances aside, she was never the sort to revel in chaos or make her existence more of a burden than it needed to be. It was one thing to arrive with fanfare and another entirely to be an obnoxious pest. Langley was a professional and professionals had standards.

So as she entered the chamber, Langley turned her head ever so slightly toward a raven that had so conveniently come to roost upon her left shoulder. A strange one, that bird. Its eyes were a little too human and there was a red ribbon tied daintily around it's neck like a pretty little scarf. "Off y'all go then. Let's not give our young lord an aneurysm. The child already looks half a fright as is." Langley chuckled to that bird. And it did as it was bid and even appeared to nod a bit at Langley's words, letting out a caw as it fluttered off towards the open window. The rest of Langley's retinue followed suit. Langley just stared at Kasyr with those bright yellow eyes of hers and a pleasant smile on her face. The deafening noise of beating wings.and crowing did not seem to have much of an effect on Langley. She nary even flinched. She just waited until every last bird had dispersed, watching the revenant with that unblinking gaze.

And when they were gone, Langley finally deigned to answer. She curtsied nice and proper, one leg in front of the other with fingers gently pinching the hem of her skirt and head ever so slightly bowed. "Yurielle Alexia Langley." The false vampire announced as she completed her little bow. "...hyphen Marken," was then added, almost as an afterthought. "But please, just Langley will suffice. And worry not, I'm not here for murder. Never was much one for bloodshed. You can dismiss your…" she gestured at the staff with wiggling fingers, "...people. I'd hate to ruin good help if one of them gets a little jumpy by what they may see today."

Kasyr can appreciate theatrics, but it tends to requires a fair bit more patience then he's currently capable of. Something which has him appreciative that his visitor at least knows when to draw the curtain on an element of their presentation, "Probably less of a fright then the hallways. I imagine there's a miserable trail of feathers et skewed paintings in your wake." Still, Langley isn't quite wrong in their assertion, given the air of weariness which greets the necromancers sinister sort of Cordiality. Still, he does reciprocate the niceties, offering a faint incline of his head to the curtsy, and a gesture towards a seat at the table,

"...Langley." That had been in one of the folders that Asharam had once sent him, but the profiling was askew, to say the least. A relative, perhaps, or-? There was something about the that unflinching yellow gaze that incites an uncomfortable sort of famility. "The Draganas'-? Or a relation?" No harm in asking. As for the staff, the revenant makes a vague shooing gesture at those who had followed on their heels to attend to the bird detritus, "I'll be fine. Just remember to bring the wine. It would be nice if at least -someone- enjoyed the hospitality." That order granted, the swordsmans attention redirects to his guest, at about which point he carefully adds, "Is any of your business pretaining to House Markan, or strictly personal?" The way they'd invoked it was- curious.

Langley || There was a moment's pause while Langley waited for the castle staff to leave. If prying eyes were to be had, she generally preferred those prying eyes to belong to her in some way. But when they were all gone, she took the seat that had been offered to her, tucking One leg behind the other hand crossing her hands in front of her on the table.

"Ah yes. The Draganas. Quite passionate, they were. We were… business partners. Larewen was many things, not all of them good. But she certainly had her uses. But no, no relation. Could you imagine?" The very idea of being that emotionally unstable caused Langley to laugh a bit. She would never do casually allow herself to be as reckless as The Draganas tended to be.

"As for why I'm here, let's say it's personal. My relation to House Markan is a matter of convenience at the moment."

Kasyr was surprised. This was actually close to convivial- especially from someone admitting a former association to a house he'd raised. Which is to say, he doesn't trust it in the slightest, but he does his best to remain polite- listening to the whole of Langleys explanation, "I recently was given a good idea of where she got it from- so the whole of the fault can't be lain at her feet. " He doesn't even bother trying to suppress the smirk that hints at his expression, "Just most of it."

That said, he resumes a polite silence as Langley provides clarification on their role as both a Markan, and their on business. A polite silence that is only breached when one of the servants returned with the aforementioned bottles of wine, and departs again, "Well- I still might ask if you could pass on a message to that house, even if you're only..." Squired to it? The swordsman squints at the woman across from him, at the yellow eyes which don't quite look right, and then a bit deeper- at the first hints of something wrong that simmer beneath the surface, "..a new affiliate." It's not pleasent to look too long, and so he doesn't latching onto the comparitively relaxing imprints left on the bottle of wine. Anxiety, stress, curiousity- so many little residual fragments from every hand that had passed over it. An empathic palette cleanser of sorts- and a more literal one as he begins to pour out a glass, "Care for a drink? . . . If you're hoping to build suspense- don't. S'il te plait. I'd rather you were forthright with your request, or entreaty."

Langley || Truly, Langley had no qualms with surrendering as much information as Kasyr wanted. He need only ask. But of course, she would never just casually serve up that information. So she just offered him that polite smile as Kasyr spoke, waiting calmly for the revenant to ask the right questions. "Associate would be applicable, I suppose. I was dying and it would be…" Langley paused as something moved underneath her skin, writhing like a mass of tangled serpents, "...unfortunate if I died." She would leave it at that unless Kasyr chose to probe further. "She wanted out. She wanted a chance at freedom and so I gave her one. I am a provisioner in that way. It just so happens that The Markan are a clever lot and that is of use to me. So I play the part. All the world's a stage, as they say. A drink would be lovely, yes."

If even half the stories about Kasyr that her birds had whispered to her rang true, this one was hardly a fool. He certainly was not going to be the type to so recklessly shake her hand for the promise of power like Larewen had been. So at his request, Langley would happily divulge that information. But not before taking a slow ponderous drink from her glass. This was not to build suspense. She just so loved savoring fine flavors.

"Let's not mince words then, yes?" Langley promptly responded after swallowing. "You, despite yourself, love this city. That much is obvious. Why else would a man return to a place despite having surrendered his rule over it? Perhaps leadership and life have left you exhausted but… well I suppose that is the burden that the truly powerful must bear." Langley paused a moment, pondering her next words carefully.

"I too grow weary. I find the egomania that besets the leaders of this city exhausting. I find that seeking to be powerful by making sure that everyone is weaker than you is cowardice. It is armor worn by the fearful to hide that fear and Vailkrin has spent entirely too long flung into petty war after petty war perpetuated by people too fragile to acknowledge their shortcomings." Langley leaned forward and tapped her chest with two fingers. She was waxing poetic and running a bit long on this monologue of hers, this she knew. But she could not quite resist.

"I believe that to be the most powerful person in a city full of powerful people… now that's real power. That's power that means something. That… is power that gets things done. So… to answer your question, this one and the one that you've left unsaid… I'm not hear to make a deal, bargain and barter, shake hands over your tattered soul. I came calling because we want the same thing, don't we?"

Kasyr makes a minor mental note of the disconcerting shift in Langleys flesh, but otherwise continues his actions unabated- pouring them both glasses so they could partake of something at least adjacent to civility. The dramatic description of their dealings is hard to miss as well, briefly heralding his own time as a 'facilitator' of sorts. It's an intrusive memory, and one that was better off rotting in some corner of his mind.

He takes a sip from his glass, his gaze never shifting from Langley- even as they finally begin to speak in earnest about their common cause. There is flattery there, he imagines- but a part of him wonders if there might not be a genuine thread of passion to settle on as well. Or at the very least, sincerity. And the fact that there's not attempts at enacting some esoteric agreement has the Kensai at least willing to engage further, "I want stability. Order. The things this city has been denied over the last few years as its declined, distracted et divided." He tsks to himself, the sentence briefly cut off as he draws a deeper draught from his cup, "Entrusting that to others, in anyone else- has seen bits of the city cut up in order to fuel their ambitions. Paltry schemes ruining everything we worked towards, despite the 'promises' provided." The glass is settled down to the table, the Kensais hands encircling it so he can run his tumbs along the rim, "Noblesse Nous Oblige. The question es, were you hoping for a figure head, or someone to serve as a unifier? I can't imagine your ideals simply end with a king returned to their throne."

Langley smirked, briefly flashing a bit of a toothy grin. Too many teeth. "Chaos is… inefficient. Sure it can be fun, watching the fires burn and the little fools scurry about in their terror but what do you have left when that's all done? Cinders and corpses? Master of ruins ain't all that impressive a title." She mused before taking another small sip then set about swirling the glass as she admired the sloshing liquid inside with narrowed eyes. "I have no desire to be king, you can keep the title if you are implying that I am after it. I do want a seat at the table though. I want what Larewen promised me and failed to deliver. Ideally, I would like to do so without plunging the whole city into pointless wars. So here I am, offering an alliance. But as I've taken care not to lie to you so far, I will offer this tidbit as well. I am absolutely, wholeheartedly, undeniably willing to become your enemy if an alliance cannot be met and you decide to see me as a threat."

Kasyr expression may have slightly soured at the enthusiasm that Langley could briefly showcase for 'Chaos'- a state of affairs that the swordsman has spent the last number of years thoroughly suppressing. That said, while the intro may have been rough, the closure to that statement serves to at least provoke an affirming, "Mm. Best that it stays beyond our borders, nesting with the rest of the rabble." And then Langley breaks into the specifics of their desires, and it's here that the Kensai finally gains some degree of ..humour, really. Practically a deathwish. "I'd say it's a good thing you partook of my hospitality before you made that declaration- or I'd have been tempted to take your measure in this moment." There's a certain homicidal happiness there, a humour that doesn't quite reach his eyes, and sharpens his smirk, "Would you absolutely become a threat if an alliance ou agreement can't be made, ou only if something were to tip the scales and make us enemies, par chance?" Except that 'cheer is waning' replaced instead by the same severity that had been stoked in the last weeks by the countless ties to his humanity snapping, one by one. "I'm -not- Larewen. I don't pretend to know what she offered you. What she -could- have offered you, beyond that chaos et ruin you seemed averse to. Et right now, I'm not so reckless as to offer one of her affiliates any sort of arrangement without knowing the specifics of the seat you want, et what you hope to bring to the table- Madamoiselle~" The revenants head cants to the side, even as he settles back into the seat, "Sell me on what you're offering- Given you're here in my office, that you know what I present- I already know that in an ideal situation, I still likely represent your interests." Because it seemed doubtful that Langley was banking on being able to control the vampire.

Langley || "Mmm. That would be an interesting fight, I am sure. But presently, I must decline." Langley lifted a hand and wiggled her fingers at Kasyr to show off the shiny red paint on her fingernails. "I just had a manicure and it'd be a shame to ruin it so quickly." That hand then lowered to pick up the glass so that she might again sip from it.

"Besides, I truly detest fighting. Do I look like a fighter to you? That sort of thing is best left to others." Langley added with a bit of a cordial chuckle. Kasyr had looked a little bit under the surface though and he undoubtedly had some idea of what Langley was. Even if he lacked the whole picture, it was likely that the revenant knew that Langley was at least a little dangerous. He did imply that Larewen had nothing to actually offer Langley, after all.

"You've probably deduced by now that I am a mildly complicated creature to kill. And I've read enough of your exploits to know that you are particularly good at getting in the way of people you don't care for. So frankly, being enemies would be inconvenient to say the least. But to clarify before we go any further, if in my way, you feel you must get, then I will gladly make your life excessively inconvenient. So if an alliance cannot be struck then I, at the very least, hope we can reach an armistice. I won't sour your milk if you don't sour mine, as they say.". Langley explained and then paused for a moment so that her words might have time to sink in. It was not meant to be a threat, just a truthful appraisal of potential outcomes.

"Now that all said, I would like House Markan, for starters. If you can facilitate such things, I would certainly owe you recompense. But let's be honest, most of them are… beneath me. And I can very likely handle that particular desire on my own. You'd just make life ever so slightly easier for me. I wish to represent the non-vampires. All them creepy crawly creatures of the night, like myself, that tend to get swept aside. Here, you would likely be very much more useful to me. Your public support of my goals therein would likely carry a fair bit of weight. And again, a favor owed for a favor given. And lastly, we both want order in this city. And I do believe that order can be achieved much more readily if we are working together than it can if we are working apart." There was another pause, more time to let Langley's offer sink in. "Larewen was a pawn, Kasyr. I had no love for the woman or her kin. She was just in the right place at the right time. My goals have always been to bring about order and grandeur to Vailkrin. As I said, the most powerful person in a city of powerful people…"

Kasyr taps the side of his glass as Langley offers their retorts though there's a slight...'snort' at the comment about looking like a fighter. Langley had hit the nail on the head, after all- there were a few elements about the necromancer that looked, that felt uncomfortably familiar- that had memories of the Black Pool bubble up in his mind, of fighting hollow shells fueled by hubris and hatred. "At the very least, I could honor an armistice, if an accord cannot be reached- provided you're not a danger to the city." There's little else to be said to the broker, however- until they finally provide clarity.

The kensai had, after all, once worked in service to Coreliant- the bleak little truth to the mount of Lies the deceptive Ascendi built up. To hear it all lain out was actually somewhat of a relief, "As I said, I appreciate those who are forthright. It's one thing to say you want collaboration, it's another when you say what that would entail. Omission, or a carefully worded truth es often more deceptive than- " He's in the midst of gesturing his hand when he takes a second look at Langley and simply pauses. There was no real need to clarify the point. What Asharam did have on the broker alluded to as much. "If you had hoped to make your own house, I could have perhaps facilitated the process, but to overtake an existing house es...more troublesome." Especially one that hadn't been a constant thorn in his side, "That es how civil wars start. The only thing I -could- say, es that if you're looking to -guide- it's hand, it might do well to- " The swordsman cants his head here, and actually forces himself to take a slightly closer look at the thing sitting across the table, gussied up in her sunday best- clothes and host alike. The mismatch, however, yet mains, the vestiges of someone else still not eroded away, "To find the sire of whoever was once what you now are. Et peut-etre my entreaty to Markan might help you better Ingratiate yourself, as well. There's some peculiarities in the world they might like to study. Things reminiscent of when the sky tore open. I can give them first rights to study these, as well as the process of closing them again. That, et some knowledge on the entity that tore into Frostmaw- if they might find it convenient to ..facilitate the return of normalacy to our city."

Our was in fact a keyword there, though the Kensai had not missed a certain detail, "I can understand the value of favours. And that of having a sympathetic ear. Certainment, I'm not contrary to someone representing the interests of those who don't fall under the purview of vampires, or undead. The nightcrawlers et humans alike see little progress insofar as their interests, at current times. If you can provide a course of action for how you'd see about bringing this peace and order to the city- and fitting within the return of Vailkrins stability, I would be amenable, since I feel there will be a meeting of the houses soon." There's a pause here, before the swordsman simply muses, "And If I'm not present, I'm certain the lady Stitch could receive the message for me. I understand that expediency can be important in times of Turmoil." Daedria knows that she'll likely have a nose firmly planted in paperwork, with one of Asharam's brood nearby to 'help'.

Langley || "Suppose a vampire rises to prominence in a house. Suppose this vampire establishes itself as strong, too strong to be easily and conveniently dealt with. Suppose that vampire were to then also make nice with the other houses, sharing with them little gifts of interesting science and magic. Perhaps that vampire even helps to find a way to solve, or at the very least, lessen the blood shortage. And let us suppose this vampire has a few powerful friends in its corner. A revenant, a seamstress, and the leader of a necromancer's guild… for example." Langley offered these up as hypotheticals as if she were not talking about herself. But by now, Kasyr likely had enough information to know that Langley was definitely the vampire in question.

"Well, child, that vampire's word would certainly carry a fair deal of weight. Too powerful to kill with any degree of ease, too useful to have assassinated and certainly, I cannot imagine someone would want to risk the ire of those powerful friends." Langley spoke with subdued passion. There was fervor in her voice only barely restrained by the compulsive need for politeness. "Now suppose this vampire were to stand up and speak out. The plight of the humans is unacceptable! Too long have we treated monsters as mere beasts!"

"Two birds with one stone." Langley continued, gently stirring the dredges of her drink with a finger tip. "A little bit of unity among the houses. At the very least, one of them stops being quite so bothersome to you. And now there is advocacy for the non-vampires from the lips of a vampire. At the very least, it lays some foundation."

Langley punctuated her hypothetical by finishing the last swallow of her drink. She then set the glass down but not with her hands. A slender tendril had slithered from the cuff of her sleeve and coiled around that glass, extending slowly to set it back upon the table before withdrawing back to wherever it had come from.

"Your information, my cooperation, and our commonality. Those are my terms. And if it helps…" Langley reached into her pocket and pulled from it a letter. That letter was slid across the table to Kasyr so that he might give it a read.

Kasyr understands the implications well enough- and can even appreciate the leverage that certain elements carry. That said, of the myriad parts presented, there's certainly an appeal in allocating manpower to the blood supply crisis, in particular. It fit so neatly into what was already on the way.

"I'd say, ultimately- that you'd at least have a solid beginning, if you can make good on this plan. ...Though, to that end- if you need a platform to speak from- there is a journalist I know whose still hungry for a story . . . Et once you've managed to get a bit of momentum, a little headway-" The swordsman shrugs, casually topping up his drink, before reaching forward to offer Langley some more as well- clearly unperturbed by the extra appendage. And yet, it's not just the bottle that is withdrawn to the Kensais side of the table. The letter between them, and the familiar markings on it, are hard enough to miss- and it leaves the man frowning. He glances over its contents for a few long moments, before casually setting a spark through the page and reducing it to dust- a small act of prudence meant to remove whatever trace of her it may have carried, the remains then swept off the table.

"I think I can work with that. So, if you'd like- I could scribble you up something small to officially detail you as the go between House Azakhaer et House Markan. That may, at least, serve to buy you some time and credence within your house- especially given you'll be carrying my offer. That -should- suffice, J'suppose- from there, we'll simply see if you can make good on the rest."