wizardmanor | Floor 5, Room 3

I don't know if "lucky" is the word I would use, but I suppose that's beside the point.

[He isn't going to get into that shallow of an argument over word choice.]

I would agree on your assessment of the library, though. There is nothing from the perspective of another wizard. It makes for a rather bumpy picture... but perhaps its best that it comes from a third party.

The man from the village that Oz normally protected was similarly timid. He even questioned why they were invited to the ball in the first place. I wonder if yours felt similarly.

Is it not more fortunate than the alternative? So many would rather avoid death by any means they can, after all.

[ but he's also not looking to get into it over semantics, so he shrugs and moves on. ]

If the guests were all there by invitation ... it can't have been the two here [ he means tatara and laz, ] that drafted the lists, could it? So that just makes me more curious what the relations between the countries here are like.

[ the more ... opulent, of their number at the ball certainly did seem to be the sorts that might think less fortunate countries and those who didn't directly benefit them beneath them, but ... well, a single ball is but an instant in time. drawing any hasty conclusions would be ill-advised. ]

What tensions may exist between countries, what maintains their peace, and other such factors.

[ like how close they might be to breaking? ]

I'm unsure. Our dear little sparrow already told me that he wasn't the best at networking and didn't know everyone present. I could see them acting as a emissary role for the event, but if I had to guess, the invitations would have come from the royal family.

As I stated before, at least for the village I spoke to, they seemed wary of their status with Central due to Oz and the prince. But at least from surface impressions, everyone at the ball seemed willing to be diplomatic to some degree. I don't doubt part of that was because of how unusual this whole situation is, but still... nothing stood out to me as a heavy political conflict with any immediacy.

Maybe some of the more recent library tomes would deserve another glance. Tatara and Lazuli might have more to say on it as well, if we're specific.

[Might. Big might. Lazuli was pretty matter of fact, but as much as he appreciates their Sage, he's extremely flighty.]

[ he listens, his only real acknowledgement an incline of the head before he starts speaking again. Solomon's assessment of the ball matches his own, for the time being. ]

Yet according to him, [ a nod at ahito, ] there's something going on in the west.

Even in peacetime standing armies will be maintained, yes, and there is of course the expectation that they'll run their drills, and technological advances will march on... Still, given the circumstances of that single survivor, one does have to wonder at whether this is just routine research in the name of progress gone wrong, or signs of something else brewing underfoot.

[ ... It also begs the question of why he attended at all, or how Ahito managed to get that information out of him if he hated wizards that much, but Solomon's already asked that question. ]

We have nothing to go on advising that it's something of international concern, though. It could be entirely contained within the borders of the West. At least from what was present at the ball, we don't have enough information to say one way or another. That he was invited despite his attitude and injury at least shows someone else deems him as a figure of importance when it comes to our presence. Whether that person is someone else Western or one of the inviting party is up for guessing.

So while it's a concern, and an extremely reasonable one given the content and his behavior... I don't want us to start assuming, and I don't want it to color what information needs to be passed on to those assigned to the West, or to our Sage.

[The "he said, she said" was already a slippery slope to mess with.]

I'm aware. I don't think there's enough actionable information to truly make any damning conclusions at the moment. Not in regards to the presence of some conspiracy or the lack thereof, anyway; it was merely a reminder we cannot necessarily trust whatever surface impressions we've yet managed to glean.

[ perhaps a more knowledgeable eye would have been able to put together these whisperings and rumours into a proper picture, separate out the wheat from the chaff. unfortunately for them, they are not. ]

With any luck, the international relations of this world are not so fraught as those I am familiar with, but I haven't put my faith in luck for a while now. It's why I said I wanted to learn more about the nations here first.

It is interesting to me, however, that he was both invited— and that he attended at all, considering his attitude.

[ but again, nothing they can really do with that except speculate slightly less than blindly. ]

Then at least on that much, we're agreed.

If the West is highly motivated in research regardless of the field, then I wouldn't be surprised if inviting the survivor of a recent wizard-based massacre was a way to possibly test the waters and lead discussions. But there's only so much we can learn without some more proactive first-hand conversation.

[Maybe a field trip to the West is in order?]

Ugh. Yet even more politicking.

[ like yes, he was specifically seeking it out at the ball; also yes, he can have a distaste for it. these things are not mutually exclusive. ]

Would that we could raze it all to the ground our lives would be that much simpler, I'm sure.

[ here they are instead, though. ]

I politely decline that sort of measure.

[Not without reason, at least. Maybe Ahito deserved to set some researchers on fire if they were anything like the ones he knew from home.]

Simple as it would be, I've no intention to give them more reason to consider us monsters, just because we can't exercise a little patience.

Don't worry. I wouldn't actually act on it. I know better. After all, I am here, aren't I?

[ was joke n_n and look! here he is, the fell dragon collaborating in a strategy (??) meeting. he's being so patient and cooperative right now. ]

Still, you cannot actually expect that a few brief weeks or months of goodwill will change a prejudice this deep seeded? Not giving them more reason is one thing, but let's be frank: anything we do is hardly going to change public perception of wizards as a whole. Even if it did, they'd have a ready excuse: 'they're from different worlds, so of course things might be different there'.

[ they don't need to make enemies or ostracize themselves unnecessarily, but going out of their way to be on extra good behavior is... ]

Even a few millenia isn't enough to change prejudice. That isn't my concern, nor is it our job.

I only wish to treat the people as people and not follow suit to expectation simply because it exists. Call it an act of my own conscience.

Hmmmm.

[ it's brief, clipped at the trailing end. ]

Follow your conscience then, and leave us to follow our own. I can't speak for the others, but I'm hardly going to turn around and devour those of the North after speaking the way I have so far. And to do anything to the West— or the other countries— out of little more than spite and lack of patience would be to invite more trouble than it's worth.

Though I suppose I can be fickle...

So long as you're balanced in the outlook, I'll have little complaint. Be as fickle as you like. I'm not here to change minds, only to express concerns for a healthy debate.

[And if dialogue doesn't work, then.... well, hopefully they don't come to that.]

Not here to change minds, you say. [ a huff of breath, with an almost laughing air. it's not malicious. it's almost understanding, even, or at least the pretense of it. ] Probably because you, too, must know the futility of it. Those who would affect meaningful change often burn too bright and will either be smothered for it or burn themselves out too soon. Those who you can reach are but few, and ultimately, their legacies won't last.

[ his gaze flickers away. ]

The times and settings may change, but the hearts of people will remain steadfast regardless of the state of the world. [ said, like there was another word or phrase he might have used and decided against. ] And those who have seen it ... well, they're hardly easily swayed from their beliefs, are they.

They aren't.

Futile or otherwise, though - I would rather reach the few for the sake of their possibility and choice than to do nothing at all.

[ with nothing more than a simple, toneless curiosity, no judgment; no accusation;

no derision: ]

And what has it availed you, in all your time spent alive?

What has it availed them?

[He chuckles, but pointedly does not answer the question.]

My concern is for the people here right now. If you don't mind, let's keep our discussion on topic.

[ he'll return the chuckle, a kind smile, and distinctly not say this: "What a self-serving concern, yours is. You claim your actions are for the good of others, but if you cannot answer that question sincerely, even if in the negative, what can it be but a show of self-indulgence?"

instead what he does is this: he dips his head, nods accordingly, and responds: ]

Very well then. Let us return to the subject of a potential Western conspiracy, odd movement in the north, and whatever it is that led to the need for one of the cities there to take in a sudden influx of children.

Floor 5, Room 3

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