Magna City Shining Congress – Main Lobby

[Jackie Cat]

Angel smiled gratefully at Ghaspius for offering to step in should he ever be as far south as Frigatespur. Even if nothing came of it, she'd become properly ingratiated with the Wayfarers by now. Apparently their reputation, or their status as 'angels' gave them more clout than certain established knights of the Covenant... at least with some members of the society.

"Do you think you'll need a lift back to your room later?"

Angel tittered again, and nodded a little. She probably needed to lie down for a bit soon. She was starting to seem drowsy...

"A Scizor? Do y'all have a name?" He asked, trying to sort the various Covenant members in his head. "I got a clear picture of the Scizor, but just what about the other one — Ser Aster — what makes them so notorious? Like they go out and start pickin' fights with random civvies or somethin'?"

"Gallant, or Glitter or somethin'," she muttered. "Oh, and um, Ser Aster is alright by me, really. She just doesn't have any, uhh, discipline? She is a faller, so it's not really her fault she didn't have a civilised upbringing, bless her. I think it's more important a knight executes her duty well rather than having a clean mouth and orderly paperwork, ahaha!"

So, not a bully then – just foul-mouthed and tardy.

Angel nodded along eagerly as Ghaspius opined about making a better life for everyone. She smiled up at him with the sparkles in her eyes she'd had before, now that they'd move on from unpleasant topics, however exciting they were to gossip about.

"No contest at all, Ser Ghaspius!" Putting down her glass, Angel flew to hover close to the Mismagius and clutched a wispy ribbon in her tiny hands. "It's been an honour to meet such a noble soul this day. I promise, if there's ever anything I can help you with, or do for you at all, you may dispense with my help whenever you need it!"

She came on a little strong, what with all the sparkling white wine, but she was lucid enough. She really meant it.

 

[canisaries]

"Well, of course the Order are only human, there's bound to be, um, the occasional misadventure," the Ribombee hedged, making a mollifying gesture.

'Only human'. That was an odd phrase for a Covenant member to say. One would think there was no 'only' about a human within these walls. But perhaps Betel had just translated it that way, and she'd actually said something more general about sapient fallibility.

I suppose if the lance in Frigatespur are up to no good, and it was reported to the Grandmaster, then they might get sanctioned?

Grandmaster?

Andre listened to Angel and Ghaspius' exchange, then cleared his throat. "I wanna go back a bit. Grandmaster? Is that the head of the Covenant? Who are they?"

 

[MintyMimix]

"No contest at all, Ser Ghaspius!" Putting down her glass, Angel flew to hover close to the Mismagius and clutched a wispy ribbon in her tiny hands. "It's been an honour to meet such a noble soul this day. I promise, if there's ever anything I can help you with, or do for you at all, you may dispense with my help whenever you need it!"

Though the remarks about Ser Aster simply being rowdy as a mark against them gave Ghaspius pause, the enthusiasm Angel showed was too utterly infectious to ignore.

His gemstones glimmered in a wave as he placed his placed one of his ribbons atop her hands. "It was a real delight to meet ya too, Angel," he replied, swaying from side-to-side in whimsical glee, "Will reach out to y'all if we ever need, well, an angel!" He winked as let go of the grip — not realizing someone like her might not take it as a nonverbal gesture to the pun rather than the compliment.

"And feel free to reach out to us if y'all find yourself in a bind!"

The Klefki let out a suspecting hum, but made no vocal remark. She leaned over and gently placed the empty glass into one of her many containers of wonder for later cleaning. "Wondering about all your stories as well, but I gotta take care of this lady here. If you're still around, would love to hear what you have to say on a few things."

 

[Jackie Cat]

'Only human'. That was an odd phrase for a Covenant member to say. One would think there was no 'only' about a human within these walls. But perhaps Betel had just translated it that way, and she'd actually said something more general about sapient fallibility.

Actually, Andre, the phrase is very nearly a perfect translation! It may be that it implicitly contrasts the mortal with the divine, or the mechanical, for instance?

(Or Andre was right nonetheless, and 'only human' may as well be 'only sapient', but for that the latter rolled less well off one's tongue.)

"And feel free to reach out to us if y'all find yourself in a bind!"

"O-oh! I will! Thank you!"

The little bug was practically swooning.

The other Covenant members nearby, such as the Teardrop staff, had been making easy conversation and picking at the buffet. With Angel flagging a little, it looked like one or two of them might volunteer to escort her away from the party...

"I wanna go back a bit. Grandmaster? Is that the head of the Covenant? Who are they?"

Roscoe, the Aipom, stepped in for this one.

"Eh, no, the Grandmaster is just the most senior knight in the Order of the Lantern," he explained. "But he does have some pretty hefty influence, y'know? And he's wholly in charge of the Order, obviously. But the society as a whole, nah, there's not really a top bigwig as such..."

"De jure, perhaps," interjected a nearby Unfezant who'd been listening in, "but de facto? The Chancellor may as well be the head of the society, surely!"

And who was that, then?

"Lord Arthur, that is. He is the current Chancellor, and he is what you might call our leader, no?"

Roscoe sniffed. "Chancellor's just a fancy title that comes with a lotta paperwork. He's not actually in charge of shit."

The Unfezant chuckled heartily. "The western manner, how diverting! Well, be that as it may, the Chancellor is the closest thing we have to a head, no matter how much any authority is decentralised."