WELCOME TO NOTT!

[abraxasmods]

WELCOME TO NOTT!

Welcome to Nott! A blend of old world Thorne and new world industrialism, densely packed wooden buildings surround a section of ancient stone architecture at the lake’s edge. The city rises up against the horizon and is easily seen from a distance, lacking any farmland or outposts around it to distract the eye.

The city gates are wide open. Whatever may be happening back at the Thornean capitol, there’s no obvious hint of it here. Busy citizens are going about their day, guards in local uniform patrol the streets with little urgency, and no alarm bells or horns are sounding. It appears,at least on the surface, as though no one is concerned about escaped prisoners here.

But it certainly is a bustling place! Sounds and smells assault the senses right from the gate. The streets are filled with vendors and panhandlers and criers shouting out deals and directions and soliciting money, hawking food and services and shops. There seems to be a tavern or a public house on almost every corner. A cool wind comes off the lake and the scent of the fish market carries through the city. People are everywhere and no one seems to notice or care that much about strangers - aside from wanting their coin.

It’s the perfect place to hide out from Thorne while staying within Thorne’s borders.

Within a few hours of arrival a city guard will approach each escapee from Thorne - regardless of what their standing was back at the castle - to politely inform them that Lord of Representatives Lyle Vela would be happy to receive them at the House of the Lords at any time today. Each character will be given a handwritten invitation marked with an official seal that gives directions to the House of the Lords, a sprawling Old Nott building on the lake that overlooks the city. The invitation is of course optional and there are no repercussions for declining.

Comments

[girl_at_the_window]

[Walking into this office is like a punch in the gut. It's not really anything like her father's little office in the back of the ranch - aside from anything else, he'd never have been able to afford that much paper, or such fine furniture. At the same time, it's just like his office, down to the smell of pipe smoke. It brings a lump to Susan's throat that she has to fight down.]

[She clears her throat, not to get his attention but to loosen that tight nostalgia that's threatening to choke her. She didn't come here to wax nostalgic about her da. She came because she's got enough sense to know that whatever's happening in such a town as this, it's happening here. She'd be a fool not to see what the man wants.]

Hile, sai. Ye sent for me?

[She half-raises the invitation in her hand, as if to prove it, and looks around the office, trying to take it in without giving in to that lingering homesickness.]

I like your, uh, paintings.

[abraxasnpcs]

I did. And thank you. Sit.

[Lyle gestures brusquely to the free chair at his desk.]

And be at ease, I know we're counted under the banner of Thorne but you're not in any trouble here. No one's going to toss you in jail or send you bound in a cart back to the royal family. I assume you're concerned about something like that.

[girl_at_the_window]

[There's a ghost of a smile, a little sardonic, that tugs at her lips. She does as she's told, sitting down with as much good manners as she can. Knees together, ankles crossed, just like a proper lady ought - and just like she never usually does.]

Aye, I was. Then I figured ye're probably not mad enough to send us signed and sealed invitations to get arrested.

[She sets her own invitation down on the desk, just in case he wants it back. She knows it's unlikely, but the habit of preserving paper, and of expecting other people to, hasn't left her just yet.]

[For a moment, she's quiet, chewing on her lip. That's not good manners, but she's not aware enough of it to stop. She can't quite shake the familiarity of this place, and along with the homesickness, there's an undercurrent of danger which feels stronger, not weaker, for his reassurance. They call it the House of the Lords here, and it was the Horseman's Association back in Hambry, but she has a sense that for all this place is grand, it's much the same thing - local notables, wielding the real power for the people.]

[Which is fine, as long as it works. When her da ran the Association, there was a lot of good came from it. But it was the Association that killed him, too. It was them that welcomed the war to Hambry.]

Say sorry, sai, but I don't reckon I'm going to be at ease until I ken what I am here for. And why.

[abraxasnpcs]

I wanted to meet you and I wanted to assure you that you won't be punished here. I visited the capitol just months ago when they were showing off you lot. They chose who I spoke to and made sure it was a brief meeting.

[Lyle's expression indicates that he didn't appreciate the way it was handled at the castle.]

But now I have a chance to meet some of you at your choosing and without the eyes of the royal family or their loyal magicians on us.

[girl_at_the_window]

[Susan watches him closely, grey eyes intent. She's still thinking of the Horseman's Association, how easily they'd drifted from loyalty to a distant capital. How distant lords aren't real; how she herself had never been strong for the Affiliation that was, to all intents and purpose, her royalty.]

[It's not a thought that has aim yet, but it's one, she thinks, worth holding.]

Aye. Aye, they'll do that, I guess. Why risk aught else but what they want ye to see?

[She half-smiles, wry, almost as if sharing a joke, and shifts in her seat. Not at ease yet, maybe, but a little less visibly tense.]

Anyroad, I guess ye've met me, now. So, what happens next?

[abraxasnpcs]

We have a brief chat and you go on your way. I'm only trying to determine just what it is our leadership is up to. They won't tell me directly or show me what I want to see but I imagine you can. If they're honestly pouring all our resources and effort into you...visitors. They tell me this is necessary and they tell me this is what we all need...

[Lyle sighs and his mouth tightens.]

You've seen this city. You've seen its people and its streets. Do you think all we need is some ill-defined solution that relies on an artifact we barely understand?

[girl_at_the_window]

[Susan's quiet for a moment, chewing on her lip as she considers him. Considers, really, what's safe to say. I'll be careful, she'd promised Roland. Careful means keeping her head down, doesn't it? Means playing the innocent, if she can, and most of all, means not getting involved in this place's politics.]

[Except that hadn't been what he'd been talking about, and it seems to her that she can't not get involved. She's here, now, too.]

[She sighs, her eyes flicking towards the window, then back to him.]

Could be. Could be there's some grander plan they ain't sharin'. There's real power there, that's for damned sure.

...I grew up in a place kinda like this, you know. Smaller, sure, and not so grand, but my da sat where ye do, sai, more or less. And we sent horses and stock to the Inner Baronies, and we sent our taxes when we were called to, and they sent... Well, truth be told, they didn't send much. Not till they had to.

[This feels like a betrayal, and maybe an unnecessary one; he doesn't need to know everything, after all, and she's sitting here badmouthing Roland's people, badmouthing what her da fought for. But she keeps talking anyway.]

Seems to me it's the same here. It ain't that they don't care, but if they live up in their castles, then how'd they ever ken what's needed outside?

[She scrunches up her face, falling silent for a moment, then shrugs and looks back up at him.]

They won't tell us what we're here for, and truth is, I didn't ask, 'cause I'd as soon not have found myself back in their jail. But I don't reckon they know. All this talk of the Singularity, but it didn't seem to me like they'd half a notion what it is, or what we'd find in there. But they put all their chips in on us, so I guess they figure there's no choice but to play.

[abraxasnpcs]

You understand our situation surprisingly well. Though in our case even when they have to they don't. Frustrating circumstances, I'm sure you can agree.

[Lyle stands up and goes to the window. He stands looking out it with his hands folded at the small of his back.]

When the royal family moved the capitol all that time ago this city suffered. We clawed our way back without the aide of the royal family but we've never been the same. Our local government only has so much power. The people here are good hardworking people. Proud people. They are suffering because our so-called leaders see us as little more than a glorified fish farm. I don't know what they see you and the others as but I imagine it's similar. You matter to them in relation to what you can do for them. What they can take from you. I don't agree with that approach.

[He finally looks away from the window.]

If you have any questions about the city, now is the time to ask them. Considering I expect you'll be with us for some time.

[girl_at_the_window]

[She watches him, and there's that ache in her chest again, because he doesn't look a thing like Pat Delgado, but that's just how her father used to stand on the stoop, looking out over the Drop. Like the answers might be out in the sky and horizon, if he just looked hard enough.]

[When he turns back, she starts a little, looking momentarily guilty before she clears her throat and nods.]

I'll need work. I guess there's the docks, I can learn a trade there, but if there's a stable or a ranch somewhere hereabouts...? [Then, just in case he thinks she's got some kind of romantic idea of farming, and because she's spoken to enough people in her life who don't think much of girls doing that kind of work:] My da bred horses, and I ran his ranch once he was gone. I ken horses. Figured it's worth askin', while I'm here.

[And then, because that doesn't seem like really a weighty enough question to justify her presence here:] And... what'll ye do if they come to take us back? They ain't done takin' yet. Could cause trouble for 'ee.

[abraxasnpcs]

You and half our citizens. I'm afraid steady employment isn't abundant here. But day work is always available at the docks. Most inns of any substance have stables attached.

[Lyle opens a drawer in his desk and takes out a small slip of paper with something already scrawled on it.]

Here. Take this two doors down to the small open office with the elderly woman. Give her this and she'll give you a queenie for your time. And don't worry about the capitol. We'll deal with that if the time comes.

[girl_at_the_window]

[She opens her mouth, as if to protest. Then, thinking better of it, she closes her mouth again and pushes herself to her feet.]

Thankee-sai. It's been a pleasure talkin' to 'ee, truly.

And if there's aught I can do, let me know. I'd like to help.