[Day 2, Mid Evening] A friendly background check [Closed]

[Loreia]

Loreia makes small talk with locals browsing the market, or stall merchants.

Knowing next to nothing about the man herself, she leans towards the topic of Baelon in idle gossip to see if she can learn anything about his motives or true allegiance.

[url=Knowledge(Streetwise) TN6][/url]: 2d6k2 3

Unfortunately, her force of personality isn't enough to sway anyone to abandon whatever their priority is and spare her time for an actual conversation. The shopkeepers are fine with light conversation up to the point they realize she's not there to buy anything, and stop paying her any mind.

[url=Persuasion(Charm) TN6][/url]: 2d6k2 5

After fruitless effort, she visits, in no order, the horse pens to watch the animals, and a few arms vendors to browse.

*This is open for Gwyneth if she wants to meet Loreia here*

[Reader]

[OOC: the curse of Castle Grenward strikes again! Loreia learns little and less. She can only hope hope House Coldbrook's loyal seneschal Farris has fared better.]

[Gwyneth Drakeson]

With a few hours to kill before meeting Garret, Gwyn decided to visit the marketplace. She had a couple of guards trailing her, but was otherwise by herself. There were quite a lot of merchants set up, feeding on the sudden influx of visitors for the tourney like a swarm of remoras in the wake of a shark's frenzy. She drifted from stall to stall, not terribly interested in what most had to offer. It was while she was aimlessly poking at some handmade trinkets that she heard something interesting from the next stall over.

Someone was asking about Baelon?

Gwyn carefully looked towards the speaker and saw a woman, armed, dropping Baelon's name to the merchant without even seeming to try to appear casual about it. The merchant tried to reel her in, but they seemed to realize mutually that neither had what the other sought, and each lost interest in the other quickly. The woman moved on.

Curious, Gwyn trailed after her.

She stopped at several more stalls, where the scene played itself out again. Several iterations of the same drama...each time she clumsily fished for rumors or gossip, and each time failed. She clearly didn't know much about Baelon, to be asking common merchants about him. Most of his incidental needs were furnished through House Marsten. If he shopped, it was for more rarified things. Most likely, Gwyn thought wryly, things to woo some unsuspecting maiden.

But you didn't see women with weapons every day...especially not openly carried. It was interesting. Far more than local arts and crafts. And it made her think of something Baelon had told her before, of House Coldbrook and it's guardwoman.

So when her quarry finally gave up her quest and came to rest watching the horses, Gwyn approached her from behind and said, "
Are you Loreia? Of House Coldbrook?"

[Loreia]

Loreia is sizing up polearms on display when she hears her name. She turns on her heel to face a familiar face greeting her. "
Lady Gwyneth,"
she bows, addressing her with a quizzical inflection. "
I am, but I don't believe we've met. Are you enjoying the event, m'lady?"

[Gwyneth Drakeson]

Gwyn lifted an eyebrow, a little surprised. "
You know me,"
she said. With a smile she then asked, "
Should I be flattered, or concerned?"

[Loreia]

"
It wasn't my aim to concern you, m'lady,"
she placated. "
Ser Jorah told me about you, he's our token knight at Castle Grenward. He pointed you out to me in the crowd yesterday, when the Targaryens arrived. That's why I recognize you now. I hope I haven't offended?"

[Gwyneth Drakeson]

Ser Jorah. A 'token' knight. Interesting turn of phrase.

Gwyneth broke into a wide grin and waved Loreia's apology away. "
Not at all. You'll have to work much harder at it if you want to offend me. I've been offended by the very best."


She walked up alongside Loreia to look at the weapons the guardswoman had been inspecting. With a delicate hand she reached out to touch the haft of a particularly nasty-looking one with just a fingertip, as if to verify that it was real and solid.

"
Is it difficult?"
Gwyn asked. "
Fighting, I mean. Do you think it's harder for you, than it is for men?"

[Loreia]

Loreia perked a little at the question. "
Hmm? No, m'lady. Not for me or any woman, to my knowledge. 'Course, there're more than a fair share of men floatin' in the depths of the Bay of Ice who'd wish to say otherwise, but they can't breathe anymore,"
she quips with a salty grin.

*hint, hint*

[Gwyneth Drakeson]

Gwyneth didn't miss how Loreia responded to the question. Ah, pride...my old friend.

Now, to build a little rapport.

"
There was a time, long ago, when I wanted to learn to fight,"
she confessed with a wistful smile. "
I wanted to go across the sea, or tour the Seven Kingdoms, without having to depend on a gaggle of men at arms and guards everywhere I went. But of course, such a thing is not permitted to a daughter of the Marstens, however distant her claim to the name."


She looked over at Loreia and smiled again.

"
It may seem a little strange, but just knowing you could do it makes me feel a bit better. It makes me think it wasn't such an impossible dream, even if it's long behind me now."

[Loreia]

"
Thank you, m'lady. In the south, from the Neck down I hear, they do their best to keep it as impossible as they dare. You've only to head north to see that dream made real, even if you've no desire beyond havin' a look-see. But no matter what reality you live in, you always risk gettin' outmaneuvered goin' from one to the other."


Loreia looks up and pans her gaze about as a gesture, and says, "
Just like this tourney. At the second gatherin' I've been to like this one, I stuck to my pockets and circles of power or comfort, and I didn't leave for anythin' other than prayer, duties, or 'cause they made me."
She forces a chuckle. "
You can only choose to be good at navigatin' one of two battlefields. No shame in admittin' which one isn't it."


*The hint was an IC clue about her place of origin. The part about dead men in the water was an attempt at humor. She's not implying she's killed many, just that many died because they underestimated.*

[Gwyneth Drakeson]

"
I suppose there's something to be said for honing one's skill to their sharpest in a specialty, rather than being indifferently skilled at a number of things,"
Gwyn admitted. "
And I've no call to complain about my station or the weapons I've come to wield."


She eyed Loreia speculatively. "
How have the warriors of House Coldbrook received you though? Have you had to prove yourself twice over in their eyes to gain their respect?"

[Loreia]

Loreia picked up a particularly ornate lance and examined the banding. "
When I started, yes,"
she answered. "
I was new there. That was back when I felt I had somethin' to prove. I was challengin' a different fellow guard for every day. Eventually I put my sword away and started talking to them, and now I'm on good terms with most of them. Funny how that works. I've tried to prove it in the south a few times, but they just ignore that I'm good at what I do, so I ignore 'em right back. I have all the acceptance and trust I need in House Coldbrook."


"
I know how to use it, but I don't have my own,"
she commented on the lance, placing it back. "
I really ought to."


Then, she turned to look Gwyneth in the eye. "
Have you really never met a woman soldier, m'lady?"
she asked, her tone carrying a trace of naivete. Is she genuinely curious, or does she have a reason to be interested?

[url=Awareness(Empathy) vs Gwyneth][/url]: 4d6k3 7
*Oh come on!*

[Gwyneth Drakeson]

Gwyneth grins at the question and shakes her head. "
You've never been to the Vale then,"
she says jovially. "
It's all very proper. The Warrior is a man, so too should men be warriors. I can't claim that no woman of the Vale ever quietly learned where to stab someone, or how to draw an arrow, but she would certainly never flaunt such a thing."


She glances at Loreia slyly then asks, "
Are there men who...like that sort of thing? At Castle Grenward?"


As far as Loreia can tell, Gwyn's interest in her is quite genuine.

(OOC - Even if Gwyn WERE being deceptive, that roll falls far short of her passive deception )

[Loreia]

Loreia raises an eyebrow. "
Well, maybe? I wouldn't..."
Realization cuts her off. She understands what's being asked, but the look on Gwyneth's face betrays an interest in the Loreia's personal 'perspective'. "
M'lady, really,"
she laughs. "
You mean me, don't you?"

[Loreia]

*If it's any consolation, she's only surprised that Gwyneth is asking her about...'that'. This is your opportunity to get in a sly remark or a giggle. Loreia will talk about it, but I'm afraid she doesn't have much to say on the subject.*

[Gwyneth Drakeson]

Gwyn broke into a grin and shook her head. At last, a woman as dense as Dunstan. Maybe they should be introduced?

"
Yes. I'm asking if you have any men interested in you,"
she admits. "
Are they intimidated by you, or intrigued?"

[Loreia]

"
Do I look intimidatin' to you?"
she asks. She doesn't. "
I can't say, m'lady, but I know Grenward is closer south, and it's no Bear Island. I might've caught a few once-overs on the journey to Grenward, travelin' with some of the Morningstar some years ago. Swingin' your sword 'round draws a different sort, but they tend to be put off if you keep swingin', which is what I did, for a time."


"
Then I grew up a little. I kinda miss it, takin' no excuse to clash with someone. Too bad I can't enter the melee contest. Speaking of the contests, I was there to see Baelon when it was his turn to gallop and lance the dummy. Wasn't it you who announced him, m'lady?"


*Sorry, trying to steer the conversation without being a klutz. This is the final edit, promise.*

[Gwyneth Drakeson]

"
Yes it was,"
Gwyn agreed. "
I'm flattered you remember me after the performance he put on."


She never really answered the question. Sore spot? Or did she or I just misunderstand? Beating around the bush time was done, it seemed. Might as well get to the meat of things.

"
Are you part of Garret Snow's regiment, by any chance?"
she asked.

[Loreia]

"
You mean the Riders? No, I'm here with the detachment from the garrison,"
she answered. "
I answer to Jorah. All the same, we like to keep an eye on him."

[Gwyneth Drakeson]

Gwyn lifted an eyebrow curiously.

"
Keep on eye on him? You make him sound like a wayward child, needing supervision. Or does he simply have many enemies?"

[Loreia]

"
I wouldn't say we have enemies, exactly. As for the former, he may act brashly sometimes, but I wouldn't call him childish. Haven't you met, m'lady? What's your impression?"

[Gwyneth Drakeson]

"
I have met him,"
Gwyn replies with a smile, then waggles an admonishing finger at Loreia. "
But I asked you first. Why do you feel a need to keep an eye on him? What sort of trouble does he get into?"

[Loreia]

*So I wouldn't say getting free tang is 'trouble', but Garret hasn't been online for a few days, so I can't get an answer from him. Can we put this thread on hold till he gets back?*

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