Dinnertime Interrogations

[Blakie13]

The young mage smiled in understanding. Slow to anger wasn't necessarily a bad trait, but one he found to be uncommon in humans. Eidric got frustrated and angry if Avaric forgot to do some chore or another. Avaric got angry in general. Usually in private; the man had a great public facade. Such simple things, and humans become so aggressive. 


Bel laid his hand on the priest's arm, his magic testing if there was any residue of the shadow magic. The elf had a dangerous amount of curiosity when it came to exploring magic, in all its capacities. 


"What is considered drastic? What might cause that level of anger?" The elf asked, looking to the man in question, a light smile on his face as the wine exaggerated his smiling, curious expression. "Once when my brother was mad in Frostwall, he had the cause executed, rather brutally. Traitors, you know. Is it that kind of drastic? Or...?"


As the younger brother of a war commander, he was unsure what was normal as far as a "drastic" reaction. An wine had destroyed his filter. 


--


"Oh Van, you tease, you know how I hate guessing games," Avaric chuckled. "It wouldn't be a terrible use of my time to go to the Lamb later..." The man trailed off, looking after Belenar and Jocryn.


The man appreciated the youthful elf's appearance, the way he seemed to flirt with anyone whether intentionally or not, it was all rather endearing. Add to that the personality, the extreme magical ability, and the connection to Corec it gave him, and Avaric couldn't help but admire his prize. And Belenar was his, it was as simple as that in the warlock's mind. He could spare one night away from Belenar, let him explore on his own. He'd make up for it later.


Switching back to demonic, Avaric whispered another response to their secondary conversation. "His blood is divine, I recommend a taste if you have some to spare," he chuckled, the rough demonic echo following the laughter out on the coattails of his response. "But the innocence is very much an act. The boy is a sex addict, an arrogant prodigy of a noble, and a future Magister. He'll be twisting minds to his will and sleeping to get ahead in messy Silvermoon politics within the year. Give him some time, once he warms up to you... all bets are off and the act drops faster than a tauren from a zepplin."  


"Challenge him to a magical duel and you'll regret every poor decision you've ever made to lead up to said duel," Avaric teased. "His brother is probably grooming him to be a powerful tool, for machinations beyond my pay grade to know," he drawled.   

 

[Zazkiel]

Jocie could stop a faint grin from crossing his face as he made a split-second decision. Flexing his fingers again, he let the shadows consume his arm yet again.


They definitely wouldn't harm Belenar as the situation was, and he seemed awfully curious about the technicalities behind how they worked magically. 


"Unfortunately, I'm not exactly a...what is he, a Commander? Av mentioned he was pretty high up there."


Shaking his head, he continued on before Belenar could reply. "Anyways, I'm not a part of the Alliance military. All of my siblings are, but I managed to keep myself out of that mess. So it's mostly in-house things; people trying to skimp on trade deals, assholes who think that they can get away with extorting a quiet potion shopkeep, members fo the Lamb who don' know how to keep quiet..."


--


Looking at the mutual fawning going on across from them, Van raised an eyebrow at Avaric.


"I'm just going to go out on a limb here, but I don't think I'm exactly his type."


Which, really, didn't bother her that much. Sex wasn't so much a tool for her as a fun passtime for her, du'Paige had thoroughly quashed any sort of chance Vanalie would use her own body to get ahead in life.


And as for the prospect of a duel...


"I think I might like to challenge him to a sparring match before he leaves."

 

[Blakie13]

The elf felt himself gasp; a quick, quiet slip of air through his lips. The shadow dancing along Jocryn's arms weaved through his fingers as they rested on the other man's arms. It was a strange sensation, cool to the touch without being cold. It was an almost welcoming feeling, in the most eerie of ways. 


"Fascinating..." the elf whispered, not realising it was in Thalassian.


He looked back up to the priest, giggling like a child that had found a new, interesting toy. "Oh, my brother is quite high in Horde Hiearchy. Commander of Dreanor in fact, Bane of the Fallen King, and other such prestigious titles. He's the reason your military would have my head, or at least should have my head, if I'm discovered in Stormwind," the elf replied, thinking of Lillic and the fact she let him walk away alive. 


The wine had cleared his mind, miraculously, and confirmed what Lillic implied.  He was a major security risk. And the sibling to one of the highest ranking members of the Sin'Dorei and the Horde as a whole. Part of that thrilled the young elf.  Part of him wanted to cower in fear.


Shaking his head, Belenar continued. "Ah, in house. Probably for the best. Reminds me of Bastien, if he's in a tizzy. Or Nara, in a bar fight, although she's slow to get that violent. Mostly... Staying out of the military seems like a good life plan, but Silvermoon politics typically get violent as is, so I'm probably out of luck on avoiding fights, huh?" Belenar teased, his fingers running delicately through the shadow on Jocryn's arm. He hadn't even noticed he'd been doing that.


--


Avaric chuckled, watching the exchange as Van did. "Oh, you're very much not his type. Without going into too much detail, I don't think you have the right... equipment the elf seems to like," Avaric stated, winking suggestively. 


"But please, Vanalie, by all means. Challenge him, I'd love to see that. The boy is a prodigy by Silvermoon standards. You could use the ego suppressant," the man teased, blowing a kiss at the woman as if his own ego weren't as big as the Un'Goro Crater.

 

[Zazkiel]

"Well, do you want to be a politician?" Jocryn melted into the soft touch slightly, preening under the attention. 


"Magisters are politicians by default, right? They're not dong it for the sheer magic of it, they're more Kirin Tor than Stormwind Mage's Society."


It seemed a bit sad to Jocryn, that mages in Silvermoon didn't seem to have much of a chance to study magic without getting sucked into politics. Their main choices were the Magistrate and, formerly, the Kirin Tor. Neither of those guilds were exactly apolitical.


--


Finishing off her wine glass with a long drink, Van shook her head roughly to dispel the faint haze in her mind.


"So, how territorial are you and Eid towards this elf? Because Joce looks like he's two seconds from proposing 'marriage.'" 


And while it was an exaggeration, Van didn't think she was particularly far off the mark. Bel was being awfully touchy, and Jocie's ears were slowly turning red in a way that probably didn't have anything to do with the wine.

 

[Blakie13]

"Precisely, although doing magic for the sheer pleasure of doing magic is a bonus to the position," Belenar stated, his eyes gaining a happy glint as he smiled in response. "The Magisterium is the epitome of Silvermoon politics, it's always been an important focal point. Besides the king and the Convocation, the Magisterium held the most sway in Quel'Thalas," he continued excitedly. And Duskwhispers had always held Magisterium and Convocation seats, although no need to go into the family history just yet.


The elf realised he hadn't really answered the question at all, and he blushed. "Er, that is to say, I very much look forward to the opportunity to join their ranks. Politics are in my blood, my family is nobility. And Silvermoon, by its very nature, is a political-uh. Environment? Atmosphere. Both," he concluded with a nod. He had been doing so well with Common through his recent ramblings.


"I hope to do well in the position, my brothers both attempted to talk me out of it, at first. Too dangerous, to them. Nara just wanted me to be happy. But she's never been the best at avoiding dangerous situations..." Belenar continued, turning his whole body to face the priest. 


"I'm... rambling a lot, aren't I?" He asked, with only the slightest hint of shame. The elf admittedly liked listening to his own pretty tenor of a voice. "Maybe I should let you talk?" After all, Lillic had dropped him off here to make friends with the man.


--


"Pfft, Belenar is about as gifted at staying monogamous as you are at going to the Cathedral for the weekly service," Avaric teased. 


"Eidric struggled with that at the beginning, but I don't lose sleep overmuch when sharing," he continued. "Sex seems to be a part of friendship with our little elf, it's in his nature." The warlock almost wanted to explore what caused such a nature. But actually caring was more Eidric's department. 


Plus if Jocie developed even a passing crush or attraction to the elf, Avaric would have material for teasing for months. Imagine bringing it up in front of Marci, who wouldn't know Belenar's penchant for sleeping around...

 

[Zazkiel]

Jocryn waved lazily with the hand that wasn't currently captured by Belenar, grinning widely.


"No, please, keep talking. This is interesting stuff, I've rarely been outside the walls of Stormwind. So if the Magisterium controls most of the politics of the city, where do the nobles fit in? And then your people have a triumvirate, right? Led by Lor'themar or something?"


Really he was only paying a fraction of attention to the actual words coming out of Belenar's mouth, Tan had already explained the political system of Silvermoon in excruciating detail when Jocryn had made the mistake of asking how he wasn't being chased down for his noble status. But the elf was clearly excited to talk, and Jocryn was more than happy to indulge him.


--


"Five gold on Jocryn developing a horribly embarrassing crush before Belenar even leaves the city." Van said lazily, digging through the pocket of her robes to find the required coins.


"And I hate to bring work into such a pleasant evening, but an extra 15 if you get me another vial of his blood. I have a few plans, but I'm hesitant to preform them with so little room for error."

 

[Blakie13]

The elf rolled his eyes good-naturedly, a smile on his face. "Oh, Belore, isn't that the question," Belenar replied. "The nobility aren't... Well. They're more or less obsolete. Currently, at least. The Scourge saw to that," the elf muttered.


The elf practically curled like a cat into his seat, his hands still on the priest's arm. "Before the Scourge, the nobility fulfilled the expected roll of landowners, business owners, military commanders, and so on. There was an almost Council of Nobles like I've heard Stormwind has. They had influence on politics, policies, taxes, and so on, but on their own they could accomplish nothing. Real political clout was with the Magisterium and Convocation, which consisted of the seven highest noble houses in Quel'Thalas. The King, however, was the final decision maker, his word was more or less law..." Belenar trailed off for a moment.  


The elf sighed. "It was rather complicated from what I understand. The Seven Houses of the Convocation mattered the most, but all nobles had some sense of influence, I suppose is the best quick summary. The trium... triumvirate? I can guess what that means," Belenar chuckled.


"They're a new aspect of our politics. The Regent-Lord technically has the final say, but Rommath as Grand Magister runs much of the day to day government, while Halduron runs military affairs. It's considerably clumsy in comparison to our previous way of things, no real checks or balances," Bel finished, his mind lost in thought. 


His brother wanted a return of the nobility and especially of the Convocation. It was as admirable goal, but complex. Silvermoon's politics could use a balance for th Magisterium. Not that too many in the Magisterium were opposed, nearly half the magisters were of noble lineage in some form or another. And the Convocation's return would see the Duskwhisper family back to the top of things.


--


The warlock chuckled. "You're on, Van," he replied. "Look at them, I knew they'd get along," he joked, his tone suggesting a little bit more. 


"And I can easily arrange for that. Useful reagent, is it not? No wonder elven warlocks are always miles ahead of us in terms of spell potency..." he trailed off. Belenar was all too willing of a subject, the boy aimed to please.