video - open

[freeing]

Name: Daenerys Targaryen
Date: Octeuril 8
Format: Video

[ Daenerys had made it quite clear since arriving that she does not trust many. She's spoken out against the Coven in their fear of opposing Dorchacht when slavery was a very serious reality and also wary of how quickly dignitaries were shipped off to take responsibility for something outside of their control. So today, she is visible with a serious expression on her face — although those eyes still have a warmth to them that her closer allies may recognize.

There's no pleasantries, instead: ]

It has been a little bit since many of us have returned from Dorchacht. My bones have settled back into the bed I’ve grown use to, but my mind still wanders. I can not shake a sense of… discomfort after everything, even if my heart is pleased to know we have helped forged a better future for Dorchacht.

However, I ask of you all — how do we feel returning back to this city? How do you feel about the Coven in Aefenglom in their role of this prior month? We have been shown kindness, however we not native here and if it comes between us and their “peace”, I am not foolish enough to put my faith to them. We were sent into a situation that could have ended tragically. I call that irresponsible and it is clear Aefenglom was willing to stay silent keeping peace. There are things the Coven has done, although not quite as enraging as Dorchacht, which leaves me feeling frustrated and wary.

I ask this question not to sway opinion, but to discuss where do we — the ones from the mirrors — go if Aefenglom is no longer the ally we may believe them to be? Having this conversation of where our allegiance lies will help make choices easier – more collective — going forth.

Please, share your thoughts.

---------------------------------

[ HI GUYS. This is a big ole open post for everyone to discuss the shakiness of Aefenglom, Parliament, and the Coven as a whole in regards to the Mirrorbound. I hope to move a plot forward of seeking independence without Aefenglom’s influence in the next few weeks and would love to ICly get talks going so points can be made for why this could be a good or bad thing. I will be refining a plot proposal based upon the feedback ICly brought up here!! I will try to reply to topics relevant to Dany, but this is kind of a springboard for a broader discussion. So go ham, thread jack, etc! ]

Comments

un: harmonia; video

[digiorno]

[This is a good post. Liked, subscribed.]

The Coven is naive. As far as I've observed in my time here, they take a hands-off approach in an attempt to facilitate peace, and see the fact that there have been no recent internal upheavals as a sign that ignoring potential conflict is the best approach. The fact that the Coven ignored the warning signs of Morgana's behavior is unconscionable and a clear indication of why inaction is not a functional leadership strategy.

I don't have an answer. But I don't ally myself with the Coven. They're a potential resource, but not a reliable ally by any stretch.

[freeing]

An alliance with an entity that conflicts in morals is a representation of a malleable conscience.

[ Good versus evil was clear, but this...? It may be a bit more gray than Dany, the stubborn ruler she is at times, would like to admit. ]

Public- Text

[rollfordiplomacy]

[Everett has many feelings about this topic.

Feelings he doesn't trust to put on a network. Caution is his best bet.

He also writes this more like a handwritten letter than a text message...]

Dear Lady Daenerys,

While I feel your concerns for the future have validity, I must heed us towards gratitude. The Coven has been exceedingly gracious and generous, providing a great deal of resources. Not only the Mirrorbound, but to the refugees who found liberation, as well. It is only respectful to take that support and their trust in us to heart.

The Coven and Aefenglom wish for the Mirrorbound to help them, without demanding so. Do keep in mind that the dignitaries that traveled to Dorchacht did so of their own volition, rather than any requirement. The danger was known and we went willingly towards it.

A warm welcome, the amount of independence we do so enjoy despite being strangers in a strange land... that is not to be scoffed at. The kindness we have been met with is astonishing. I heed you not overlook that. [he believe all of this, it's no ruse nor lie...

But his loyalty is not unconditional. Skepticism is better left to direct confidence.]

My thoughts said, I'm sure you wish to speak further. I invite you to my cottage, these devices do so confuse me!

[they don't, but it's his excuse to speak in person]

I will set out tea.

[freeing]

[ she sees u boo. ]

audio;

[battlebound]

What things have they done?

[ forgive the newbie, he is only just learning the ropes of this place. ]

[freeing]

[ it ok, Dany is here. ]

They have proven to be passive in matters that require action, sometimes at the expense of our mirrrorbound population. The most recent matter involved Dorchacht, a city enslaving monsters — instead they remained silent despite the very real concerns of their allegiance with them in fear of military prowess.

[ She's pretty bitter, sorry. ]

I have only arrived recently, but that was enough — others may have other wary stories to contribute.

Audio;

[hoboagogo]

...What she's saying is that they didnt wanna have a war they couldn't win, so they didn't stick their nose in someone else's business. But then us being here riled the other guys up, so they tried to smooth it over instead of telling the other city to fuck themselves on behalf of like 50 idiots who ended up here a few months ago.

I think some've us went over and started a revolt or something anyway so good job, I guess.

audio; un: aragaki

[hoboagogo]

[Shinjiro's been staying out of this whole fight, mostly because he doesn't really care about what's going on halfway across a world that he doesn't consider himself part of. But now it's bleeding here and closer to their temporary home. He has zero experience with politics or socioeconomics or any kind of -ics, but he does know what life is like for the people with no say in anything, scrabbling by day by day.

Either way, he just sounds annoyed by it all.]

...Okay, but what do we really expect from 'em? We show up outta nowhere, take their houses and eat their food, don't know a damn thing about the place, and cause a buncha problems for them. Then half the time we just disappear outta existence after a week or two anyway.

They ain't got any reason to care about us. And I'm pretty sure the shit outside the city makes people go crazy, so I dunno where you expect to go and start a new one or whatever.

And whatever went down in that other city, I'm pretty sure you guys all chose to go.

audio ; un: Lady Maria

[whomthebelltolls]

This runs alongside my own thoughts. They could have killed us all there, that first night we arrived. A group of strangers, suddenly appearing in the midst of a besieged city? How did they know we were not foreign invaders? Instead, they welcomed us, they displaced their own citizens when there are already those here living in poverty and illness and squalor, to give us luxurious accommodations. What I disagree with is that they've already proven they care about us.

And what do they want in return? I admit, I don't particularly care for the Coven. They've been kind, but they must be working toward their own objectives with this whole thing. Offering us food, board, employment, and resources is not something to be taken lightly. They've already lied once about the Bonds and the alternatives to them, but considering how soft everyone here runs, was it a bad thing? The Bonds eliminated the old, ingrained mentality that all Monsters must be killed on sight.

This is not something you stomp your feet and gather your toys like a petulant child to go somewhere else over at the first sign of potentially foul weather. If you really want to know what they're up to, why don't we make sure to install others of our own amongst the highest of the Coven and Parliament - to force transparency, if that's what all the paranoia is about, rather than throwing a tantrum.

username: iv

[foursakes]

I do not trust them in the slightest, and it is foolish to assume they have warm intentions threaded between such thin lines. They desire an unspoken trade cloaked under the mask of kindness.

Of what, I wonder, when The Coven, as well as their Parliament, hide what could truly matter to us. What do they do? They do what is most favorable to their own ideas. They allow us to suffer, they force us to change and remove our origins when all could be avoided. I will not suffer along with those willing.

Those who have seen the city of Dorchacht may remember the oppressed and enslaved, and my heart goes out the them. [ lmao ] They are able beings, now. They have been aided by those who are alien, because Aefenglom has used us. Do you not feel the same weight of their chains? They are no better than the Black City far too many condemn, and we may as well be no better than their willing dogs.

We should not be aligned with such deceptive opportunists. We are our own people.

[hoboagogo]

man what does that even mean? Removing our origins and suffering?

maybe i'm missing some shit but that's kinda dramatic. if we're all suffering i must have been missing it while chilling in a fucking house i didnt pay for.

not here (yet);

[faithlikeaseed]

[excuse myr he's just going to be screaming internally for two solid minutes]

[rollfordiplomacy]

[Honey, sweetie, babe- don't give your old man bonded a heart attack with this!

He might have written his letter to Dany a bit more frantically than he cared to, but hopefully it can serve in easing Myr's mind some]

voice; un: iramaat

[wylderrant]

Well, that's nothing new. People stay silent for all sorts of reasons. I can't say I blame them, considering that we're facing the end of the world or whatever this infection is...

[ There's a bit of a devil-may-care aspect to Iramaat's tone. ]

Banding together to save existence before going haring off seems sensible to me. [ At least until she's personally impacted. ]

Besides, they've given us hospitality and hospitality is... not quite inviolate, but very important. Think before you break it.

[freeing]

I am breaking nothing that puts the mirrorbound at risk. [ Only chains, wheels if she can... ] I am posing a caution to not trust blindly a hand that so willingly feeds us. We know not of what they are feeding us, as the saying goes.

[ This topic weighs personally on the dragon Queen. It is hard not to feel indebted to kindness but this? It was shelter, safety, walls to seek sanctuary in. However... Daenerys did not like how silent the city was in regards to the plights of their world's monsters. ]

I believe we should seek allegiance, not debt.

audio. un: gioia.

[trouvaille]

I haven't been here for very long and I don't know most of what you're referring to, but personally I have to think expecting an inconvenience, which seems to be what we are, to be prioritised with the same weight as citizens in the place we're inconveniencing seems at best naive. Sent into a situation that could have ended badly? Sounds like looking for a use for the inconvenience. Which sounds like something that will happen again until one's found.

( she's been here five minutes, but she's been a cynic all her life. )

[freeing]

[ hey girl, welcome to the cynic club. ]

Many of us had concerns of being sent as lambs to slaughter for some reasons outside of our control. Aefenglom now has an additional "problem" due to our interference: the refugees from Dorchacht. I fear that our goals as mirrorbound will diverge from the goals of Aefenglom.

Where will that lead us?

video

[selfishwish]

...I didn't go to Dorchacht, 'cept for the dream, but...

[This feels like a conversation that's too grown-up for him? Not so much in the sense that he doesn't follow, but just that all the political moving parts sound like something he's never had to worry about before, and he feels like he's tipetoeing across eggshells.]

There were Monsters here that had the same magic done on them. Just--with collars, instead of the whole city, and not out in the open.

[Probably that's common knowledge by now? But it's a thing that's stuck with him since actually seeing one of the black market's storehouses.]

So, I think...the Coven's been really good to us? They treat us like their guests, and we wouldn't even have somewhere to stay if they weren't so thoughtful, and all the Witches I've met have been really helpful, and I don't want to say anything bad, but-- [Deep breath, after that very run-on sentence.]

I don't think they look out for anybody who's not a Witch enough. And that's half of us, and even more of the people who aren't Mirrorbound!

[freeing]

[ Dany can't be everywhere – so something does concern her: ]

Can you explain more about the monsters here? I have not heard such a thing...

[ And following up quickly: ]

I believe Aefenglom's loyalties will always remain with Aefenglom. That is all.

text | un: reddeer

[rightfoot]

Wait, did anyone actually think they were allies to begin with? I mean, they've been pretty polite, but they aren't our friends. They obviously don't care about us, about Dorchacht, or any of the kids you guys brought back.

Everyone who went there was totally set up to be blamed for whatever failure was going to happen or war was going to start.

[whomthebelltolls]

Allies in a very loose sense of the word. We're both working toward the ultimate goal of not dying or being overrun by Cwyld infection, at the very least.

Sending us there was a double-edged sword, and they had to know it. On the one hand, it was the Mirrorbound themselves whose actions created the incident, even unknowingly. To blame them would be fair, from the position of Aefenglom itself. On the other, if it did devolve into a war, Aefenglom cannot win it, even if they blame us for it. So then, what is the point in the first place? They blame the Mirrorbound until their dying breaths, get overrun and enslaved and then it doesn't matter, because no one remembers a time before Morgana is the esteemed monarch of two city-states.

voice;

[scatmaam]

Some might say you've gotten ahead of yourself here, my lady. [ A hum, and the sound of sipping liquid. ]

Some, at least. But I'll personally say there's a lot of work in the path you seem aimed towards. Have you the gumption for it?

[freeing]

It seems everyone things so. [ Is she the only one who believes a discussion is a viable beginning to what the future holds? ] I request us try to find common ground to take our next steps onto.

From what we've learned, we've seen that until directly in the thick of it all, Aefenglom was not too comfortable to delegate on the topic of enslavement. I'm sorry, but that is a concern of mine.

un: elliot craig; text;

[fiddlestick]

Honestly, while I want to believe Aefenglom's Coven has good intentions, I'm not willing to completely ally with them either. Because you're right, we're not from here. Our own views and goals might not always line up with theirs.

Though I don't think we're all united or strong enough to cut ties with them entirely. We still need their help in a lot of ways.

un: hca | text

[manlet]

I agree. I'm not quite willing to give up my creature comforts.

That said, diplomacy is like haggling. Both parties ought to have something the other wants. A cow for magic beans. A firstborn for cabbage. It must be an exchange.

video;

[sylphid]

[She really wasn't going to respond to this-- it's too much of a headache, but seeing some of the discussions (and call outs), Fie figures she might as well toss something into this, valuable or not.]

So... what? You're kinda talking like we're all one united group. None of us are from here. That's literally all we have in common. What if the majority of "us" don't feel as strongly or the same as you do if something happens. What then?

video;

[starseedling]

[A fae boy is here to look distressed at you.]

But maybe we SHOULD be a group...? We're all in this together, aren't we?

voice;

[whattaprick]

Hey, if you'd rather find somewhere else to live, be my guest. Soon as you figure out what's even out there, anyway -- if you know what that is.

[freeing]

I suggested no such thing. I may have ambitious hopes, but I am no fool.

[ ://// ]

I know what awaits outside of the walls and what fearsome horrors the city is fighting – we were cautioned that the moment we arrived. The moments some of our bodies started to twist and shift into forms not our own, the sad reality of it has become we are relying on Aefenglom for much everything at their expense. For what?

VIDEO

[starseedling]

[Watch out everyone, Steven 'Feelings Guy' Universe has logged on for his take. To anyone unfamiliar, he is ostensibly a preteen fae with bright, shimmery scales and pink eyes. He looks sort of overwhelmed with this conversation but he's doing his best.]

Maybe it doesn't matter if Aefenglom is completely trustworthy, or if staying here is safe. We should try to work together anyway, shouldn't we? If we all support each other, then if something happens and Aefenglom decides they don't want to help us anymore, we'll be ready!

Not that I think they'll do that! But... even if it isn't us versus them, it could be... us... teamed up with us. Just a big team-up all the time, because we all have the same problems and that's something different from everyone else in Geardagas.

Nothing changes until everyone starts supporting each other. We saw that in Dorchacht with the resistance, and we can do it here, too.

Um... I mean work together, not... riot, or anything.

VIDEO

[fiddlestick]

[Steven sure is trying. Elliot appreciates that]

It might be tough, but I think that could be a good goal for us to work towards.

Video;

[weirdnecro]

You have heart and passion, I'll give you that.

[Oh, it's the little dragon she met before. She's really a lovely little thing, isn't she? But she doesn't flirt. Instead she peers at her Watch, having it set up against a book, while she rests her chin on her fist.]

However...they didn't have to include us on the trip, or they could have limited it to witches only. So-there's the thing. Support and support can be completely different things, especially when you're trying to toe the line and-amazingly enough-not get caught doing it or tip your opposition off.

[She rolled her other wrist, and let her hand settle on the table, fingers lightly dragging against the surface.]

That being said-if all of you want us mirror folk to ask for representation in Parliament? It may be feasible, and may be a good political move.

After all, we don't want to be considered property of the Coven in any way shape or form. We may have a bit of their help, if we ask for it, but in all likihood-

If there is something that comes up-not just Dorchacht, but a cwyld invasion, something in the Wildes, anything-we may want to ensure we have a vote on what we may want to do as a group.

...even if this means some of us are going to have to spend a lot of time going to boring meetings, listen to a lot of petty arguments, and have to make nice. We want this to be a democracy right? Where everyone's opinion's are listened and heard?

Because we're all equally here, and here together.

audio.

[trouvaille]

Do we know what our current legal status actually is?

Text, public for those that want it.

[unyieldingmarch]

[Still unusued to these devices Edelgard uses the text function, attempting to practice with this marvel...]

I am only familiar with this city and these events through heresay, as I have only recently arrived. However if half of what I have heard is true, I feel violently opposed to Dorchacht. The barbaric practices of slavery and the other horrors visited upon the people of that city-state are beyond unacceptable.

With that said, I am curious where we might even go, if not Aefenglom? The city and it's Coven and Parliament have gone to great lengths to provide us with housing and some sort of accommodation. Most nations, even not plagued with problems like the Cwyld, would react less favorably to a sudden influx of strange individuals.

Before we even discuss breaking, I think that it is worth asking to who else would we turn? Do we have another place to take shelter?

video - username: los

[divagari]

Our current benefactors have been quite generous in their welcoming. [ At least in his case, though he's not been here that long. ] If they turned a blind eye to such horrors, what will they do when their guests strike out on their own?

video; un: redder

[rightfoot]

They'll probably send us to the Cwyld if we do things they don't like.

video.

[mirshikar]

[ It's an easy cadence that he speaks with, all smooth jazz languid drawls and rhythmic pacing: ]

See, now you've gone and insulted the courage and integrity of each and every Mirrorbound who knew the risk, accounted for the potential of tragedy, and ventured to Dorchacht anyway.

We were not sent, we chose, and we must choose again now with a new responsibility. The refugees from Dorchacht look to us to make sense of this new city. If we meet Aefenglom's Coven with distrust, what does that make us? Liars? Betrayers? We offered the refugees promises of something better, told them that they would be delivered to safety. We are their ally, first and foremost, and any decision of ours should be made with them in mind.

There's been talk of representation for the Mirrorbound in Parliament, and the refugees need a voice as much as we do. Think we should go to the Coven, see if they're willing to open up a dialogue for us with the Parliament in a trust-building exercise.

[freeing]

Questioning a very real possibility is an insult to those who traveled to Dorchacht? Please pardon me for not seeing the logic in that connection. I pose a question of where do we go from here? We are given only as much knowledge as our hosts can or choose to give us.

[ She's skeptical for her own personal reasons — for the betrayal and sorrow she had experienced. Was she ambitious to believe to be followed, that her word would hold some consideration? Yes. Of course. Yet, it was from her own experiences that she asks a question that is not based on naivety — but the harsh truths she had experienced and hoped to find discussion with.

Her voice goes from defensive to a soft, confident lull. ]

If that is how we would like to proceed, that is where my support goes. I never once believed we should lead the mirrorbound out of the city and into the plague. As much as I believed all of us would like to return home first and foremost, that may not be the case. The layers of complexity are not lost to me and I simply wish to pose the best way to protect ourselves from any threat, not just the Cwyld.

voice | un: caster

[futhark]

I'd rather be here than there. It's been only a few days and I still feel like I can't get the stench of that city out of my belongings. But that sounds too much like complaining. [ And that's like he never does it. Riiight. ]

My opinion on the locals of Aefenglom remains more or less the same, but I might not be aware of the things you've mentioned. [ Or he simply doesn't care. Ancient sensibilities, etc. They are the most expendable of resources, and while it does suck, they have encountered tremendous hospitality here. But then, he does not state his opinion either. ] They have to put their city and their people first, I'd be a hypocrite to take it as an offense.

[ He did worse things For His People once, long time ago ]

And while you could argue that laws of hospitality put the trip in a bad taste, they have never forced us to go there. Everyone who survived horrors of that city— [ Yeah, he is refusing to say Dorchacht name ] —went there by their own choice.

There is no alliance, there is no allegiance. We are refugees here; mouths to feed, to shelter and to train so they don't become a bigger problem. But I agree we should talk about possible options what to do when that support stops. We are here on borrowed time, eventually we will have to leave one way or another unless— unless we assimilate into this society and treat it as the new home.

Live for it, die for it. That's an option too. Aha— But you're not considering that one, aren't you?

[freeing]

[ Throughout this whole conversation, she certainly has had to grit her teeth or take into consideration opinions that do not align with hers. Dany is far from the fool to think her was is the only way — but there seems to have been hostility at the mere suggestion their hosts and Aefenglom collectively could not have the mirrorbound best intention at heart.

Dany believes the mirrorobound have to protect themselves, first and foremost. ]

No. Aefenglom has stood through time longer than any of us have been here. I pray my fear of dubious motives are wrong, but if not that — does this city provide the same rights to refugees as it does to its people at its core?

[ There's a thoughtful hum that follows. ]

I would hope many of us would like to return home, to return back to the world we were bore in. I do not plan to show my loyalties to a city who has no answers for me and a world that twists my body into a monster. We need to be allies, not blindly following.

[ However, as far as dying, a small and almost arrogant lift in her voice: ]

Why should I consider death so soon?