Voice Testing Post

[use_everything]

Canon

A.

[You may find yourself facing large, heavy gates. Behind the bars, you can easily see the enormous, austere residence spread both tall and wide against a backdrop of a lake, stables and a small, private cemetery. The unbridled horse grazing, unhitched beside a carriage, by a liveried servant is in direct opposition to an obviously futuristic lightflier not far from it.

Even the guard that narrows to nervous attention holds both a sword and a strange, small device.]

And you are?

[The voice comes from behind.

Aral, for his part, neither looks, nor feels the part of the lord. Having taken the long way, treacherous and unmonitored paths and foothills back to the residence, he smells of sap, a chemical tinge of smoke and the exertion it took to get back. His green dress uniform had survived in all but the pressed edges, looking as if he'd intended the slight look of disarray and set jaw.

He lifts a hand, stilling the guard from comment on him, and focuses all of his attention on this newcomer.]

B.

[The Counts and Minsters poured out of the building first. The debates of the evening being traded in words so sharp that they might as well have been blows. Aral followed much more sedately, having taken a bit of time to brief his intelligence officer and leave orders for the evening.

It's by chance he stumbled across a stranger, enough out of place to inspire both caution and curiosity in equal measures.]

You seem lost.

Mask or Menace

C.

[It helped to liken the city to a space station. It had the bustle of a large hub.. the rowdy clash and wild fusion of fashions and cultures that defied any easy identification of a trend or perhaps some anthropological hint as to the people - and species... intelligent and alien, the very thought sent his mind into fits of fantasy and planning at once. It was like water, as far as he could tell. Formless, impossible to grip, but could fill the air around you and sweep one far away should he let it. There were colors and layers fitting the ghem Cetagandan... lack of modesty known to the Betans... the maliable gathering of anything adorned by a Jacksonian mindset...

And yet, nothing that fit anything else.

There was only one way to begin. Diplomatically.]

Might I ask a question?

OTHER

[Pick your poison, or let me know and I'll cater a starter to you.]

Comments

C

[protagerrant]

Sure thing.

[Yuri gives him a quick, assessing look and waits, head lightly tilted.

Even in such a diverse crowd, Yuri probably stands out a little despite having swapped to native clothing: On the tall side, long-haired which was obviously not much in fashion with the men on this planet, and, of course, carrying a sheathed sword in his gloved hand.]

[use_everything]

[The man before him is stocky, wearing pressed military greens as if they were born to them. He stood at parade rest, finding it a comfortable default in this truly foreign world.

His own evaluation produced a satisfactory result. The younger man held the balance of a warrior, not merely a noble carrying a sword. Another imPort was likely to be as close to a mutual perspective as one could find in such a diverse crowd.]

You seem one to ask of the military state of this world if I am not mistaken.

[protagerrant]

[Military type, huh... Yuri was never a fan of guys in uniform, for good reason, but he could give the guy the benefit of the doubt. Most soldiers weren't all that bad, just a little too attached to following orders. He wondered if this guy fell into that category.]

That depends. I've been asking around, but I'm not exactly from here. What do you want to know?

[use_everything]

I'd presumed so.

[That gets a slight upturn of the corner of his lips, the reason following audibly.]

The character of the governance behind it, mostly.

[protagerrant]

[Yuri's own expression turn's a little wry, but then he sighs a little.]

Good question. They're pretty shady if you ask me, but other imPorts might tell you different. They're just a little too nice for my tastes.

[use_everything]

[Now, that was interesting. He let himself come to an easier rest, head tilted slightly in acknowledgement.]

May I ask what leads you to the differing opinion?

[protagerrant]

Paranoia or life experience, call it whatever you want. But I know whether they planned it or not, having a bunch of powerful 'weapons' around while they're on the brink of a war is a lot of temptation.

[use_everything]

For even the most principled men, yes.

[protagerrant]

Right. [He knows that well enough.] So even if they really do want to do right by us now... there's no telling how that will change in the future. They're probably hoping, with all this good will, that they don't have to make us help them out.

[use_everything]

I'd ask what signs you'd seen of it, but they don't necessarily present to anyone without the luxury of access.

[protagerrant]

And there's a lot of crap to sort through. A lot more than I'm used to.

[use_everything]

Used to?

[The prompt is simple, attentive.]

[protagerrant]

[Makes a vague gesture, 'this place']

I'm pretty sure this one country has a bigger population than my whole world. And we don't have any thing like the technology here, especially all the long distance communication stuff.

[use_everything]

It sounds as though we've comparable worlds as far as population. [That leaves the question: older or merely as devastatingly isolated as Barrayar had just been.] Though, the technology seems to lag by galactic standards.

[protagerrant]

That's fine by me, it's enough of a pain catching up as it is.

[use_everything]

Agreed. There's more than enough absurdities and oddities to keep a man preoccupied for years just cataloging.