Esbilon
Seven Thousand Club
Cynis Bellara
Caste: Eclipse
Supernal: Bureaucracy or Presence, possibly Socialize
Concept: Dynastic bureaucrat on the run.
With the rise of Tepet Fokuf as Regent of the Realm, the Greater Chamber of the Deliberative has piece by piece acquired ever more power for itself, and taken ever more from its Lesser cousin. Between the heated debates on the Chamber floor, the ancient rituals and the fierce personalities of the dragonblooded senators, it is easy to forget those people who keep the bureaucratic wheels well greased. One such woman was Cynis Bellara, a mortal Scion of that great house, and one who was blessed with the perfect knowledge of her own place in the world: Above the Patricians, below the Exalted.
Of course, things are far more complicated than they seem, and in few places is this more true than in the hallowed Chambers of the Deliberative. There is a myriad of rules, regulations, customs, rituals and stranger things that any Senator who wishes that his voice be heard as more than just another echo of greater men must follow. For the smooth running of Her Imperial Majesty's government, it is therefore essential that there is a vast staff of skilled and dedicated bureaucrats who understand all of these little things, and who can maintain strong and lasting ties with each other even as the senators change every few years or decades. For a clever and careful bureaucrat, this may even be a way to wield more real power than any mortal in the Realm has a right to.
Cynis Bellara was supremely good at her job, guiding one young hopeful or bored elder through the twists and turns of Deliberative politics, and steering them gently towards such policies as benefited herself, her family and her House. Her life was stretching out in front of her, and she could wish for little else. Why, when a suitor approached her parents for her hand; it was not one so lowly as herself, but rather one of the Exalted. To be sure, Cynis Mountain Crag was hardly what her naïve younger self would have wished for; he was far older than her, having only just returned to the Blessed Isle permanently since earning his place in the Dynasty after choosing the Coin when he was found. But in his veins flowed the blood of the dragons, roaring and alive where in hers it was dormant and slumbering. His aspect was good, Earth like her father's which the family genealogists swore would all but ensure that their children would be blessed (of course, there are no guarantees, but there are good choice and bad ones).
She tried to love, him, she really did. But the old soldier lacked her sophistication, her wit, and her effortless grace, and when a year passed without her womb quickening, he grew impatient. Mountain Crag was not a man who knew many ways of expressing his impatience, but the ones he did, he saw no reason to be stingy with, even if it took every bit of his wife's skills with cosmetics to allow her to work the following day.
The day things changed did not seem out of the ordinary when it began. The sun rose above a clear sky, and shined down on the Imperial City throughout the day, bathing it in its pleasant, golden light before setting behind the Imperial Mountain in a veritable festival of colours. However, when Cynis Bellara returned home that night and her husband raised his hand to strike her, she stepped out of the way. When he opened his mouth to scream at her, she was faster, and with precice and biting remarks, she exposed to him the extent of his failing as an Exalt, a citizen of the Realm, and a husband. Where on another day, her words would merely have fueled his rage, tonight they cut through him, and he broke before her. As he sobbed at his own failure, she put two delicate fingers on his chin, raised his head and through sheer force of will drew from him an oath that he would never lay a hand on her again. That was when the sun burst forth from her brow, and his oath bound him with the force of the very heavens. That, then, was when Bellara decided to flee with all possible haste.
Caste: Eclipse
Supernal: Bureaucracy or Presence, possibly Socialize
Concept: Dynastic bureaucrat on the run.
With the rise of Tepet Fokuf as Regent of the Realm, the Greater Chamber of the Deliberative has piece by piece acquired ever more power for itself, and taken ever more from its Lesser cousin. Between the heated debates on the Chamber floor, the ancient rituals and the fierce personalities of the dragonblooded senators, it is easy to forget those people who keep the bureaucratic wheels well greased. One such woman was Cynis Bellara, a mortal Scion of that great house, and one who was blessed with the perfect knowledge of her own place in the world: Above the Patricians, below the Exalted.
Of course, things are far more complicated than they seem, and in few places is this more true than in the hallowed Chambers of the Deliberative. There is a myriad of rules, regulations, customs, rituals and stranger things that any Senator who wishes that his voice be heard as more than just another echo of greater men must follow. For the smooth running of Her Imperial Majesty's government, it is therefore essential that there is a vast staff of skilled and dedicated bureaucrats who understand all of these little things, and who can maintain strong and lasting ties with each other even as the senators change every few years or decades. For a clever and careful bureaucrat, this may even be a way to wield more real power than any mortal in the Realm has a right to.
Cynis Bellara was supremely good at her job, guiding one young hopeful or bored elder through the twists and turns of Deliberative politics, and steering them gently towards such policies as benefited herself, her family and her House. Her life was stretching out in front of her, and she could wish for little else. Why, when a suitor approached her parents for her hand; it was not one so lowly as herself, but rather one of the Exalted. To be sure, Cynis Mountain Crag was hardly what her naïve younger self would have wished for; he was far older than her, having only just returned to the Blessed Isle permanently since earning his place in the Dynasty after choosing the Coin when he was found. But in his veins flowed the blood of the dragons, roaring and alive where in hers it was dormant and slumbering. His aspect was good, Earth like her father's which the family genealogists swore would all but ensure that their children would be blessed (of course, there are no guarantees, but there are good choice and bad ones).
She tried to love, him, she really did. But the old soldier lacked her sophistication, her wit, and her effortless grace, and when a year passed without her womb quickening, he grew impatient. Mountain Crag was not a man who knew many ways of expressing his impatience, but the ones he did, he saw no reason to be stingy with, even if it took every bit of his wife's skills with cosmetics to allow her to work the following day.
The day things changed did not seem out of the ordinary when it began. The sun rose above a clear sky, and shined down on the Imperial City throughout the day, bathing it in its pleasant, golden light before setting behind the Imperial Mountain in a veritable festival of colours. However, when Cynis Bellara returned home that night and her husband raised his hand to strike her, she stepped out of the way. When he opened his mouth to scream at her, she was faster, and with precice and biting remarks, she exposed to him the extent of his failing as an Exalt, a citizen of the Realm, and a husband. Where on another day, her words would merely have fueled his rage, tonight they cut through him, and he broke before her. As he sobbed at his own failure, she put two delicate fingers on his chin, raised his head and through sheer force of will drew from him an oath that he would never lay a hand on her again. That was when the sun burst forth from her brow, and his oath bound him with the force of the very heavens. That, then, was when Bellara decided to flee with all possible haste.
But yes, no rush as yet, fiddling with forum-ness.
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