Time for a Dress
We are approaching the end of our Zweihänder campaign (a continuation of Strange Aeons is next), and the big social event is rapidly approaching. Things will be kicked off with a Ball, which we are now invited to, which will probably be something of a shock for most of us, since none of us are really well suited to dealing with high society. The limitation of a system like Zweihänder is that it can be difficult to ensure characters have a good spread of skills, since you’re tied to what your class gives you.
Now that we’ve all been invited to the ball, I need to find myself something to wear. It’s not that I care much about such things, but I know other people do and sometimes making a good impression is what’s needed to get things done. The thing is, I’m not certain what a priestess of the God Emperor should wear to these sort of things, having never gone to one before. I don’t want anything too scandalous, but I also don’t want to be too stuff and boring either.
Thinking of the paintings that we saw in the Order of Redemption’s temple, I think I might try to go for an older style, similar to what the Handmaiden was shown wearing, though with a bit more white than red. Red, white and gold are the colours of my God, so that’s what I’ll aim for.
That took most of the afternoon and evening, and I ended up missing the meeting with Gorm Suneson, but I’m sure Calthar and Djarin handled it all fine without me.
What I have is a relatively simple dress in an older style, with a red lower half and white on top. I have some relatively practical shoes to go with it, so I can run if things go horribly wrong. The lower half has a nice bell shape to it to keep people away, and the top shows some shoulder, but covers up to the top of my cleavage where I can hang my holy symbol. Shouldn’t scandalise anyone too much. Except for the price, which was 20 gold.
But another thing I lack are any dancing skills – tomorrow I’ll have to try and find someone who can show me the basics.
Calthar and Djarin have just returned from meeting with Gorm Suneson, who works for Jarl Revna Svensgarde. Unsurprisingly, he wanted us to gain information on the other Barons, and was willing to pay us 5 gold each as a starter.
So this evening I’m going to be writing some letters. Not only to provide the four Barons with everything they want to know (or at least, everything that we want them to know), but also some dummy ones designed to be intercepted. That was Djarin’s idea, in an attempt to sow confusion. Though since they will all receive a “this is the real letter, ignore the others”, they’ll probably figure out the ruse without too much thought.
Finding a dance instructor was tough, but I managed to persuade one to fit me in. Apparently lots of people have been leaving it to the last minute. At least our excuse is that we were only invited a couple of days ago.
Apparently I’m not too bad at it, and Mistress D’Arcy was happy for me to write a glowing review of her instruction without fearing that I was going to show her up on the night.
Calthar had found an instructor at the White Orchid, as well as made contact with the assistant to Jarl Skardesson, a somewhat young and foolish man according to what we’ve heard. She also wanted us to spy for them, and unlike all the others actually asked us not to share information we gained with anyone else. That could be tricky, and she only offered us 3 gold each, but Calthar accepted anyway.
Calthar also found out that there was going to be a party at the White Orchid tomorrow night, which might involve clowns.
Meanwhile, Djarin has also been seeking something to wear, but I don’t think he put that much effort into it. I’m betting that his plan is to find somewhere to sit and have a drink, and avoid all the cultural stuff.
This morning Djarin came back from the Brawling Bear somewhat the worse for wear. Rumour has it that there was something of a party there, and as well as having done well at the axe throwing game, he also got to spend the night with Jarl Norisdötter. Maybe he will find a use for at least some forms of cultural stuff after all.
