(Video; UN: sing of the rage)

[glorioussong]

(Three days have passed since his arrival. Three days spent in confinement while he recovers from...something. He recalls white powder on his fingertips - Patroclus would know the name of it - but that's all. Now he is in his benefactor's wing. Vannozza Spina.

As ever, he is blunt.)

I do not care for this welcome. (It feels like a ploy to pull the wool over his eyes. Achilles has never fallen for ploys and he won't start now.) This is where I introduce myself. I am Achilles Peleides and if you are at war, show me where the men are fighting.

(He will drink wine and party after.)

Comments

un : deft hand of little deaths (voice)

[scrapgege]

Well... it's not really our city, and it's not quite war? Not yet the kind of war where people actually fight with swords, at least.

(voice)

[glorioussong]

Then why call Aristos Achaion? (He serves one purpose for the gods. The rest of his time is given to love, kings and princes be damned.)

(voice)

[scrapgege]

I think they just want to steal our powers and our souls, mostly, and we've been trying to not let them do that.

(voice)

[glorioussong]

They won't stand a chance if I hold my sword. (He could use his bare hands too. Or his spear.)

(voice)

[scrapgege]

They've captured gods and demons. I don't want to say you're not powerful, but you should still be careful.

un: absterge

[downswing]

At ease. Today, we face no bloodshed.

[glorioussong]

Today. Today.

What of tomorrow?

[downswing]

No man riddles futures.

[glorioussong]

There is logic to it. Is there strife? I have heard that, yes, there is unrest.

[downswing]

Stay your sword.

un: lady mockingbird (text)

[notsansa]

I fear you may have readied yourself for the wrong sort of fighting. Forgive my saying, but shed blood now and you may only hasten our downfall.

(text)

[glorioussong]

The need for us will diminish then. I'm not some pretty palace ornament. I am ready to fight; I have been training for years. It's time.

[notsansa]

[ She really should stop trying to talk sense into the men here. They're so stubborn. Maybe she can get him to talk himself out of it... ]

What do you suggest, Ser Achilles?

[glorioussong]

(Achilles is one of the most stubborn. He has had to place himself against the gods and their destiny for him.)

Prince Achilles if you must with titles. I prefer Achilles.

I was ready to command twenty-five hundred men. Now I drink wine? You must admit the difference is startling.

[notsansa]

[ A prince. Of course. That makes so much sense with that ego... She's not falling into any traps and calling him by just his name. ]

Many pardons, Your Grace. I would not dare to speak on such familiar terms with one so highborn, for I am nobody of worth.

I can't speak to what it must be like as a warrior, only that if you seek out enemies with swords, you will be found wanting. Those here conceal their blades behind honeyed words.

un : ???

[funnylittleclown]

A bit quick to rush into battle aren't we? Who would you be fighting?

[glorioussong]

Whoever holds a weapon against me. Isn't that how war goes?

[funnylittleclown]

Too often, yes. But has anyone held a weapon against you and if they have do you know which side they were working for?

[glorioussong]

I sailed for months to Troy, armored from head to toe. Now I must dabble in politics?

The weapon they brandish at me ensures my frustration.

[funnylittleclown]

Troy? Now there's a familiar name. Not the same Troy made infamous by the Trojan War?

un: vast & furious | video.

[valeas]

( emilia is a study in quiet but sharpened focus. she knows better than to trust first impressions, and still, she'll always attempt to glean what truths she can by way of observation. his is not an unfamiliar name, but she is skeptical by nature and will not make too swift an assumption. )

I imagine you've been counseled on our present circumstances.

( and has been told to stand back. may he listen.

her own temper means she knows such a thing can be difficult, but no less necessary. )

video.

[glorioussong]

(Live skeptical. He approves of that method.)

I've heard enough. The tension is building, politics will fail and swords will gleam in the sunlight.

(For now. Dressed as he is, in full armor, the order is complex.)

[valeas]

( she regards his armor. the stubborn press of his words. something about his anger is indeed familiar. )

Should that prove true, would you not know your enemy first?

( their weaknesses. their tells. patterns, if any. it is a disadvantage, to be so newly arrived. this, too, she understands. )

[glorioussong]

Enemies are everywhere. Just because someone claims to be my ally doesn't mean we won't rip out each other's throats.

(He obeys the laws of the wild. He is a lion and lions make no pacts.)

un: wei laozu

[weifinder]

Ah, Achilles Peleides? Then you're new among our numbers, and I'd say welcome, but this isn't a series of realms necessarily warm for the welcoming.

What are there is spans decades and has not been our call, but if action is what you prefer, it will find you. Be peaceful in holding at ready until then, ah? We don't lack for battles requiring strong arms and stronger hearts.