Staging an Intervention

[Kura Wolfsdotter]

Kura had frowned when she saw that eyebrow twitch, now fairly certain that Cally hadn't given any context on the situation. Well, she'd explain later. She returned Faith's hug, and smiled at the banter between her and Padraig as she left the kitchen. When Padraig asked how she was enjoying Scalvoris, besides her business, she smiled. "Oh, I'm enjoyin' myself immensely, and the political business is part of it." she said, before pausing a moment as Faith joined them. "Something mortals, no offense, have a hard time fully graspin' is how much my long lifespan has an effect on my mentality. In my case, I've spent more than a century involved in politics. When I'm not...it's like an itch I can't scratch, like a fundamental part of myself is missing. It's..." she paused, searching for the word she wanted to use. "For me, being out of politics for the year of I've been...it's like someone stuck me in someone else's body for a year. It never felt right." she said, before smiling again. "So getting back into politics is a very enjoyable thing."

In order to answer Faith's question, she had to pause for a moment in thought. "Well, as for what's different, no one's tried to hit me upside the head with an empty bottle or pick my pocket yet, so it's definitely more peaceful." she said dryly. Truthfully, most of her last visit had been spent in Almund, but at the time, much of the rest of island had been given to similar rowdyness. "And it was...about sixty years ago, I think. I was part of the group sent to help the island acclimate to the presence of the Imperial Navy. Almund was resistant to our presence. Had a bit of help though, from the youngest of the Lords at the time. Some young pup named Diarnav." she said, shrugging. "Most of the rest of the Lords at the time were...active stupid. Worked poorly together. Diarnav though, he had some ambition. Wanted our help convincing the Lords to work together. From what I hear, he eventually pulled it off." Granted, she didn't knwo much about the current generation of Lords, so she was working entirely of hearsay.

Kura paused a moment, considering what she should say next, then decided to take advantage of the fact that Katie and Cyrus were apparently out. "So by now, you've probably figured out I'm up to something, assuming Cally hasn't outright said it." she said, her tone turning dry at the end. Cally, who was stitting next to Faith grinned slightly at the comment. Kura meanwhile, looked a little pensive. "Here's the thing. According to official Imperial policy, Scalvoris was considered part of The Eternal Empire. Empress Raskalarn is many good things, but she is utterly incapable of letting something go once it becomes "hers". So she's going to want Scalvoris back." she said, leaning forward and propping her elbows on her knees.

"In truth, I was initially surprised that she hadn't already made a move to take the island back. I have to assume the Imperial Navy is completely out of the picture at this point. That being said, I was able to find out why the Empress is willing to take a fairly relaxed stance on reclaiming the island." she said, before looking at Faith. "You were right, Albarech Brandel is pro-Imperial. He's been sending Korlasir regular reports on the islands status." she said, her tone cheerful at that.

The she sighed again. "But it won't hold forever. The Empire is focused on conquering Nashaki right now, but she'll turn her attention to Scalvoris eventually. When the Legions come, if the island resists, things will get bloody." Kura grimaced at that. She understood the necessity of war, but she preferred settling things in less violent ways. "So I decided to...basically start taking over Scalvoris." she said, her tone calm as if she were announcing her plan to become head librarian.

"My plan is to take the fact that Empire is decently well thought of here and fan into a firm and clear pro-Imperial sentiment. If I can, I want to make it so people here aren't just unopposed to the notion of re-joining the Empire, but actively seek it out. If I can pull it off, it will prevent a lot of useless bloodshed." she said, now looking at both Faith and Padraig, gauging their reaction to her plan.

[Padraig]

Snippy and feisty? Padraig grinned, while he'd still been propped against the door frame and could only agree, his eyes filled with amusement when Faith had looked his way. "She's right," he told Kura. "From the trill we met and I wouldn't have it any other way."

When Kura told them how much she was enjoying having immersed herself into the political scene since arriving, Padraig wrapped an arm round Faith's shoulder when she joined him and frowned, but nodded in response. Being on staff at the university required its own sort of political maneuvering, though he couldn't say he necessarily enjoyed that aspect of the job. He was no politician, not by nature or inclination. Some however thrived on it and it appeared that Kura was one of those. He smiled a little and raised his glass. "Somebody's got to do it," he said. "And if you enjoy it then all the better."

But then Kura told them both what she was up to, and what she was planning to do. Did it come as a surprise? Given the mortalborn's origins and connects combined with previous conversations with both her and her Immortal mother, not necessarily. Padraig knew the history of Scalvoris. His was a curious mind already, but you didn't hang around the university and the library trial after trial and not pick up a little something extra along the way. And it was the nature of mortals, and probably Immortals too. Once something desirable was claimed and had, losing it didn't usually sit well.

What he wasn't sure of was how amenable the general populace was to the idea of returning to the state of old. Politicians always had their own ideas, those they governed didn't always feel the same. At least not all of them. Those he rubbed elbows with at work talked about their areas of interest and gossiped about each other. They didn't typically indulge in talk of politics so long as they were allowed to pursue their realms of interest as they pleased. He was no different.

Would there be bloodshed? So far as Padraig was concerned, that depended. "I tend to think that, in general, people aren't all that interested in whose in charge. They care about their livelihoods, their ability to live in peace without too much interference in their lives. Are they able to earn enough to keep their families fed? Do they have a roof over their heads and access to what they need?" he said. "And if all those things are balanced to their liking, people tend not to like change. That's when they're inclined to take notice," he figured, "when someone comes along and upsets the balance in a way that's not to their liking."

[Faith Augustin]

The ability to just curl up on the couch with Padraig and enjoy a moment chatting with their friend was a lovely thing and Faith looked, and felt, more relaxed than she had for quite some time. When Kura explained how she felt being back in politics, it had to be said that Faith considered it with some surprise. After all, she had not long ago discovered that she was not yet 19 arcs old. Kura had been over a hundred arcs the trial that she had been born. How odd.

Kura's enthusiasm for politics was beautifully juxtaposed to Padraig's well someone's got to do it response. Faith could not hide the smile as she considered the two of them and how they both were. Politics was very much not Padraig's focus, but Kura seemed to light up with the thought of it.

A slight frown of concentration came over her, though, as Kura spoke of the Empire and the Empress not giving up what was hers. That was followed by a raise of an eyebrow and a very clear thought, which she spoke aloud. "The Eternal Empire left. They weren't forced out, they left. I don't know why, but I know that the moment they did that they have no automatic right to walk back in." Looking at Kura with a slight smile, the young woman spoke with utmost seriousness to her friend. "Scalvoris is independent and free for the first time. If my own life experience tells me anything, anything at all, it's that I'd never allow anyone to take that from me."

With a shrug, Faith supposed she was possibly being simplistic, but to her mind it was straightforward. "Maybe the Empress gave an order, or knows of some other reason, I'm not saying differently. However, what I believe without doubt is that there will be an enormous resistance to anyone who does not live here thinking that they can tell these people what to do." She gave a slight smile and then admitted what she thought Padraig almost certainly already knew. "Including me. I love this place how it is and it deserves a chance to be free."

Faith smiled but she meant it wholeheartedly. "Besides, when the Empire was here, they allowed the Pirate Lords. Slaves have brands on their faces and no rights. If someone kills a slave here, the only issue they have is that they need to recompense the owner. When the Empire was here, the traditional wedding ceremony had slave fights which were considered lucky and the more slaves that died, the luckier they were." She shook her head and added, entirely seriously. "I'm not voting for that to return. Or the people who let it happen. I'm going to try and get slavery abolished on the island," which was, undoubtedly, news for them both. "Then move out from there."

[Kura Wolfsdotter]

Kura leaned back in her chair and listened as Padraig and Faith, especially Faith, gave their responses to her plans. When they were done, she started to speak, then paused and looked at the door of the house. "Window in my room's open, you daft bird." she called, her tone showing some amusement. A bit later, during which Kura remained silent, Speck flew in from Kura's room and circled above everyone for a moment before settling down to perch on a chair. Neither Kura nor her owl knew it, but the chair Speck had perched on was Padraig's favorite, at least as far as the living room was concerned.

Now that Speck was settled, Kura turned back to her friends. "You've both got points. So let's start from the top then." she said, grinning. Kura purely loved to debate, especially when it was just something between friends, and she looked at Padraig as she was starting with his points. "I see what you mean. In most places, the leadership is of no concern to the common folk. That's an utter failure on the part of the leadership, however. Good leadership should get the people invested, get them swept up in everything, make them feel as though they are part of something more than any one person can accomplish." she said, her voice showing her passion for that idea.

Then she turned to Faith, who it appeared had some pretty strong political opinions. "Also, there's a notion I need to dispel. That either the Lords or the Empire just up and left. Neither group would have done that, it's completely against their nature. Either both groups were forced out somehow, or more likely, they're sitting at the bottom of the ocean." she said, her tone firm.

Then she smiled again. "And the Empire returning wouldn't mean a loss of freedom. Not at all. Quite the opposite in fact." Kura gestured around her, indicating the whole of Scalvoris, though it could be interpreted as meaning Padraith's house. "Part of freedom, to me at least, is being secure that someone won't just come in and take everything you've worked for away. The Empire provides both security and freedom." she said, before shrugging. "Granted, the Empire is harsh on people who break the law. Whether or not it's justified is a point of debate."

She frowned, then, however, as she considered Faith's points about the interactions between the Lords and the Empire. "I'll grant you our behavior with the Lords should have been better. For reasons even I don't grasp, the Empress didn't the Imperial presence here to become global knowledge. She seemed to want to keep the island as much a secret as she could. I think it had something to do with the tower." she said, before shaking head. "As for abolishing slavery, I'd be behind that. It gets debated hotly in Imperial councils, but the consensus that far is that, since Imperial slaves are as protected as regular Imperial citizens, it would be unwise to break the Empire in half by forcing the issue as opposed to letting natural culture shift kill the system off."

Then an idea occurred to her. "Cally, show Faith your face and neck, please." she said. The ghost, who had thus far been silent, tugged the neck of her tunic aside and turned to Faith. Faith might not have realized it, but Cally wasn't branded at all, for all that there were some scars visible. "In the Empire, slaves are marked by collars, as opposed to the universal branding system." Kura said, before giving a cold smile. "When I was twenty, branding was declared a form of torture. Anyone caught branding another citizen of the Empire, and slaves are still considered citizens, received a five year prison sentence. We usually had them building roads out by Cahryst." she said, before her smile warmed. "Bringing Scalvoris officially into the Empire would mean laws like that taking hold here as well." she said, grinning.

[Padraig]

Seated beside Faith on the couch, with Quattro having appeared from nowhere and having curled up purring between them, Padraig had to admit he agreed with what she said. And in turn, disagree with a handful of Kura's points. They could indulge in debate about what made a good leader all the trial through. But whether or not the Empire had actually been gone, or had simply seemed to be for some time, the result was the same. An air of absence and absolute disinterest, and those on Scalvoris had then filled in the void with their own ways of being.

"If I possessed an object of great value, one that I desired having above all, and yet was distracted and neglectful enough to misplace and leave for others to find," he said. "I doubt those that had, who'd cared for it and made it their own in my absence...nurtured and developed it, would take kindly to me returning arcs later to try and reclaim it." Especially when the people seemed to have done well with their freedom from interference, once having discovered it.

"The people here have worked for something," he said, using Kura's own words to make the point. "And now it's the Empire with designs on taking that away."

Did it surprise him to hear that Faith wanted slavery abolished on the island? Of course not, and Padraig couldn't have been prouder. How far she'd come, and he was forever awed by her strength. He'd go so far as to lend a hand in that regard, if it was what she truly wanted to do.

As for the treatment of slaves by the Empire, he frowned. "You can offer a slave the same protection as a citizen. You can abolish brands and replace them with collars. The empire can use words like rights and status. A slave could be treated to the lap of luxury but without the freedoms that each and every citizen enjoys, they are still slaves." Point being, a slave by any other name and treatment was still a slave. Not just in body, but in mind and spirit. And that in itself was the problem.

[Faith Augustin]

The Empress had wanted the island kept a secret and that had been reason enough for allowing atrocities which truly Faith could not comprehend. "Freedom is the ability to make choices." Faith smiled slightly, "which the Empire made when it was here before. It chose to allow the sort of things which no one who claims to be civilized should consider, let alone condone. If Jamal had lived here instead of Rynmere, those things would have happened to me. That the Empress saw keeping this place a secret, a military strength or something, I don't know, as more important than the thousands of branded faces or nameless people doesn't make me trust her more. That she knows how wrong that is and has outlawed it unless she really doesn't want to?" Faith shook her head.

"The Empire you speak of isn't what happened here. It's an empire prepared to compromise on that which should be non negotiable and I wouldn't want it." She smiled at Padraig and leaned into his arms. That was the bottom line for her, for him too she knew. He spoke about how the Empire could offer slaves rights, and it would make no difference and he was absolutely correct. That the Empire claimed that it offered those things yet, here, it hadn't made it worse as far as Faith was concerned, but even were that not the case. "Tristan dressed me in finery. Told me I was a person, not an object. Yet he owned me, all of me. No matter what I wore, I wore chains." Faith sighed and shook her head slightly. It wasn't until he gave her a choice, a genuine choice, that Tristan realised what slavery was, Faith thought.

Her bottom line was that Kura was their friend, and a good person. She was a politician and she would work hard. Faith would support her. "If the Empire wants to come back, then it should ask. It should offer protection and make clear the cost. The people here will decide, they have a right to." She sighed, then and a frown crossed her face. "I need to get involved in this." Politics, she meant and she looked at Padraig with an almost apologetic look. It was apologetic, really. They were already so busy and she knew that it was something which would take her time, but equally, she couldn't sit here and argue against someone if she wasn't prepared to work for what she felt was right.

"That's what Cally's is. It's politics. It's why I volunteer at the Order. Because there are things that need to be done, people that need to be looked after." But there wasn't time, not physically time in the trial, she knew. "I'll have to put my education on hold. Why am I doing it, anyway? It's a selfish thing. I have my Diploma, that is more than sufficient. I have completed this season's study for my Charter, so it will do no harm to pause it." Then, there was her job as a medic, she thought. She didn't need that. Volunteering at the Order didn't bring in money but it meant that she was able to help those who really needed it and there were always people willing to take jobs which paid. It was just the ones which didn't which were hard to fill.

"What do I do to get involved?" Faith asked, turning to Kura with a smile.

[Kura Wolfsdotter]

Kura grinned slightly at Padraig as he made his precious object analogy. "Not a bad analogy, Padraig, but a little inaccurate in this case. In this case it's more of a precious object you can't properly defend, and that lack of proper defense could make it a very temptin' target." she said, before shrugging. "The point about the caretakers is a fair one, however, and is why I'm workin' with the council as opposed to trying seize control from them." Kura firmly believed that she could take control from the council if she wanted too, but it would be difficult, risky, and likely bloody, and she was trying avoid as much of that as she could.

On the matter of slaves still being slaves no matter what, she nodded. "I agree with you there. I, personally, believe the only reason slavery in the Empire hasn't been entirely abolished is that doing so would likely lead to a civil war that would end with thousands of slaves dead for it. We haven't been willin' to risk puttin' that many people to the sword when they wouldn't even be given a say in the matter." she said, grimacing. It wasn't a great compromise, but it was one she was willing to make to save that many lives, not to mention of the lives of those who weren't slaves.

When Faith began to speak of compromises and whether or not she should go into politics, Kura's expression changed as rapidly as her emotions. At first, when she spoke of amusement, there was a hint of amusement, as if she were watching her child. Then, a slightly worried look as Faith mentioned going into politics. Then a look of cold anger as Faith described her education as a "selfish thing". Then resignation as Faith asked Kura how to get into politics.

"Cally's is less politics than it is a political statement, and no, the two aren't the same thing. Burnin' a city leader in effigy is a political statement, but it has no place in politics itself." she said with some amusement, before she sighed and leaned back in her chair. "And before I answer that question, you have to answer mine. And for you to make an informed decision, I have to lecture you a bit." she said, before smiling slightly. "So please try not to fall asleep on me."

"There's two ways to really get involved in politics. One route, my route, is to become a full politician. Gettin' involved in the leadership, an act that even my subconscious appears to associate with sittin' in a chair made out of knives and chains. Then there's becomin' what is called a political activist, which is rallying the people behind your goal and usin' that, usually in conjunction with a friend in high places, to inform the leadership of what the people want." she said, before she hesitated a moment, before her expression turned grim.

"There's no easy way to say this. If you want, I'll help you go for full politician. But as you now, I don't think you'd last long, and for one simple reason. You said that there are issues that should never be compromised on. Holding to that notion as a politician will render you completely useless, even to the people you want to help." she said, her tone calm, but grim. "It's something I had to face early on, when I wasn't much older than you. Politics is a brutal, ugly, harsh world, even for those who excel at it. And those of us who excel at it, we aren't gentle folk, lass." she said, standing up. Turning around, she lifted the bottom of her blouse up to show off a knife scar on her lower back. "I got that pushin' for more rights for slaves. He used a common thief, I retaliated with a professional assassin. And I still lost the vote on the Imperial Council" she said, letting her blouse fall as she sat back in her chair, her eyes cold. "Sometimes, to succeed, you would literally have to be willin' to kill, and to do so without any guarantee of success."

Then she let out a sigh, pushing back memories of other, more nearly successful attempts. "More directly troublesome for you, politics is compromise at it's core. You want freedom for all slaves, yes? Try to do that without givin' the slave owners, even the cruelest of them, somethin' in return, and it'll make things worse for the slaves. If you lose the vote, their masters will turn even crueler. Win, and their former owners will lynch them in their own homes or drag them out into the alleys and beat them to death." she said, her tone still grim.

Letting out another sigh, Kura looked at Faith. She no longer looked grim, just rather sad. "That's the world I live in, Faith, and were I Mortal, I don't know that I would have been able to stand it. No matter how good I am, and I am very good, there's always a chance that somethin' I do will backfire and make things worse for the people I want to help." she said, before shaking her head. "I don't want that for you, or anyone. It's part of the reason I keep comin' back to it. I'm good at it, yeah, and I enjoy it. But I also enjoy hunting and teaching. I keep throwin' myself into one of the worst parts of the world because, if I'm there, someone who enjoys it less doesn't have to."

Taking a deep breath Kura looked at Faith again, this time more warmly. "I don't mean to scare you, lass, or tell you what you're after isn't impossible. But you could be just as effective without throwin' yourself into the breach. Honestly, I think you'd be more effective as an activist rather than a professional politician. You're a former slave yourself, people tend to like you, your stubborness would be endearing as an activist, rather than obnoxious as a politician." she said, before narrowing her eyes at Faith with a look that said she'd just thought of something.

"Plus, you have a clear association with me. You have this consistent air of endearing innocence to you, always. People always seem to think I'm up to somethin', which to be fair, is usually true. Common folk will be taken in by you as an activist, since nobody would ever believe a politician would do something out of sheer altruism. Meanwhile, more devious types will look right past you and think they see me pulling your strings." she said, before giving a feral grin that showed off her Velduris fangs. "And I know how to deal with the kind of folk that would try to deal with the situation by removing your "puppetmaster". So if you want to free the slaves, without getting them injured or killed, that might be the best way to do it." she said, before she paused in thought and sighed.

"And to be fair, as dangerous as my personal experience with politics has been, politics on Scalvoris is probably simpler and safer. This island has largely been on the bottom of damn near everyone's priority list, so politically, it's still in its infancy. I haven't seen any sign of the major assassin guilds, or other major political...influencers. I think the Pirate Lords actually kept out the major criminal groups as well. So I think the most dangerous thing anyone has in terms of...undue influence is some hired thugs. Enough to cause trouble to the unprepared, though." she said, shrugging again.

"It's up to you, Faith. I would advise you go for activist instead of full politician, but I'll help you out whichever way you choose to go." she said, before she got a strange, speculative look in her eyes and looked at Faith again. "By the way, Faith. Out of curiosity, did Famula tell you not to perform...selfish acts?" she said, her tone a little too mild.

[Padraig]

They could argue about slavery, all the trial though, and probably come no closer together in each their own perspectives than they were already. It wasn't necessarily a disagreement based on differing moral grounds. In theory, each of the three had similar views. But in practice? How one ought to go about doing away with the practice, if at all, therein lay the point of contention. And each, the three of them, had personal reasons behind their own perspectives. Except that Kura in part represented and argued the perspective of a fourth entity. That being the Eternal Empire.

As to the analogy of precious objects misplaced, however, Padraig shrugged and couldn't help but point out the difference. "Ah, but leaving behind a precious object was inadvertent, come of being temporarily distracted. You might make the similar argument for the Empire and our little island here," he conceded, "except that in my scenario, my disregard for what I had once had right to consider my own, made no real impact on other's lives in the process. Nor would reclaiming it." His point? People and lives were not objects, to be once forgotten and ignored and then reclaimed at a later time. At least, one shouldn't expect that there'd be a lack of resistance, and resentment.

As for Faith and her desire to immerse herself in politics? It didn't surprise him that much, as well as he knew here and how strongly she felt...well, about anything that struck her to the soul and heart. He had no interest himself but a squeeze of her hand told her, he'd support what she wanted. But put aside her study? He frowned and let Kura speak to that. He didn't want to see that happen and maybe they'd speak on it later. But then again, hadn't he just recently put aside his own studies in chemistry to concentrate better on other things. He smiled at Faith, insuring that she knew that whatever she chose, he'd be there beside her.

Kura's argument against it however came from the right place. Except that on a few points, he couldn't stay quiet. "I'm no politician and never will be," he said, "But I disagree. When it comes to having influence and power over other peoples lives, there are issues that are, and should be non-negotiable. You've said it yourself. Politics is brutal and harsh. Why? Because there are those who want power for power's sake. There are those who'll immerse themselves in corruption to get it, who won't care how many others they trod upon in the process. And without those who are willing to hold the line when it matters, who are also in positions of power...then there's very little to stop them short of the all out rebellion of the people whose lives are impacted."

Maybe activism was more Faith's style, or maybe it wasn't. He'd support her whatever she chose. Maybe it would be safer for them, and maybe for them both. But Padraig couldn't help but think that a governing body without balance, a mix of differing opinions, a willingness to disagree and compromise or hold the line, and transparency in all, was just one that ultimately served a single interested party while doing lip service to the other.

[Faith Augustin]

Opposite reactions from the two people with her seemed to be the order of the trial, on the surface. Yet both Padraig and Kura, once again, had the same fundamental response at the base of it. Her hand in Padraig's squeezed back and she wished, as she so often did, that she had the words to express what she felt when he did things like that. When he looked at her, she returned the gaze and her smile was one of quiet gratitude.

Listening to what Kura said, Faith was intent and focused. She heard it all, not interrupting and not nodding off, but paying rapt attention and letting Kura speak. Then, Padraig replied and Faith felt a rush of pride in his way of thinking; it was very similar to her own. It wasn't until they'd both finished, though, that Faith replied. She was soft-spoken as always, her hand in Padraig's and she glanced at him. "I'm sorry. Some of what I'm going to say is about things I know you'd rather had never happened. But, I need to."

She considered it, one thing at a time and then spoke them. "Cally's is providing education, trades and jobs to the poorest in Scalvoris. It's identifying a problem and using existing skills, knowledge and resources to solve it, or part of it. It's helping citizens of the island to become productive and, whilst Cally's itself contributes to the economy, it also stops people from being a drain on Scalvoris' resources and allows them to take up roles which also contribute via the trainee programme." Faith was quite clear on her opinion there, "It's not a statement. It's action." Burning an effigy achieved nothing, whereas Cally's achieved a lot on a lot of levels.

However, whatever Cally's was, it was what Faith was that was up for discussion more than anything. "I agree with Padraig. There are non negotiables and if there aren't, then that needs to change." She smiled at Kura and motioned to where the scar was she'd shown them. "Moseke healed them, but Padraig saw them," she squeezed his hand. "If they were still on me, the scars my body bore, then I could show you. But believe me when I tell you that, in terms of that kind of thing, I can see your five and raise you twenty." A brutal and harsh world was where Faith had grown up, where she had lived and learned.

"You haven't scared me, but Kura I'm not trying to be endearing as an activist. I'll be as obnoxious as I need to be to do what's right." She shook her head, trying to put it into words without being horribly blunt. In the end, she knew, there was only one way that she was going to manage it and so, horribly blunt it was. "I have been beaten and brutalized from my earliest memories. I have been used as a sex slave, sent for training to a brothel and lived in the belief that my life was worth no more than my worth on the auction block." She glanced at Padraig, whose hand she held on to. "You saw it, you know who I was and what I was," and she wished that he had never had to.

"I don't talk about it," except to Padraig, in fairness, "but I experienced a lifetime of brutality and it didn't break me. It made me determined that I'm going to stand up and live my life. Help people and do my best." Faith gestured to the door. "Out there, there are people who will tell you that they are anti slavery, that they don't like it. That they think it's wrong. People who told me that, some of them then borrowed me from Tristan. Knew that he was using me for sex, which is illegal in Rynmere, but did nothing." She shook her head, determination making her talk more than she ever would usually, in company. It wasn't unusual for Padraig, of course, he saw this young woman far more of the time.

"I can't and I won't hide behind you, Kura. That isn't right and it isn't fair. Especially if my actions might make you a target. I don't doubt that you can look after yourself, but so can I" Her scrappy side was well known and had been throughout her life; it was in many ways the persistent evidence that the Athart regime had not broken her. "And if I do this, like everything else, I have to stand or fall on my own. It's only right." She was already thinking it through, ticking over. "This season, it's first season of opening, Cally's is going to gross about three and a half thousand nel in straight profit. It would be more but I gave bonuses to the staff. I'm re investing that to start our own livestock farm and build accommodation for the trainees. The argument about slaves is always the economic one. I'll go that way." Faith considered it, thinking it through. Her strength was in her moral standpoint combined with her ability to understand business and economics. But more than that, the argument about how to implement things was very much her area of expertise. Faith could organize professionally, could see the way things might go, look at the logistics.

"For me, the decision of activist verses politician is a simple one. Do I change things from the inside, or change things from the outside of the current political systems?" Because she would change them, there was no doubt to the young woman's mind. "I need to think about it. Plan it and strategise it in the most efficient manner possible." Faith had done that with the charity and she would do it with this. It wasn't her way to rush in foolishly, she would consider it.

But, selfish actions? Faith blinked slightly and smiled. "Famula has never told me to do or not do anything." It was absolutely true. "She has rewarded me for honoring her and acting in her name and I am more grateful than I can tell you for that." Not entirely sure what it was that Kura was asking, Faith glanced at Padraig and he was no help, so she answered the best she could. "if I had a problem with being selfish, I would own fewer clothes, live in a smaller house and many other things. I don't. What I do have a problem with is choosing something selfish over something right."

She shrugged a slight shrug and glanced again at Padraig. "I think I've always been this way. I mean, I was in love long before I was free, but I could not allow such because of the situation I was in. Now, I'm unashamedly selfish about Padraig being mine." She smiled at him, her mind going back to the first time she'd used that expression, in Welles. "I think this is just me, being who I am. I don't like selfish if it gets in the way of doing what's right." She considered what she was saying and nodded her head. "Doing this is important to me. If something has to give in order for me to achieve it, then I'll cease my education. I'm not prepared to compromise on my home life, my family. But the University wouldn't let me in there for arcs. It can wait for me a while if it needs to." She grinned and shrugged slightly. Education was good and she enjoyed it, but she was on the front line of medicine and she knew it.

[Kura Wolfsdotter]

Kura grinned in good humor as Padraig countered her correction on his precious object analogy. He was right, of course, but she'd had to poke a hole in his analogy, just to see how he'd counter her point. Professor Augustin was a smart man, though, as his comments showed. He still had some of the naivety of youth, or at least relative youth, but his mind and heart were in the right place. "Allow me to correct myself, lad. I got excited and spoke unclearly. There are issues that shouldn't be compromised on. How to deal with them is where compromise happens. That being said, said compromises aren't always political in nature." she said, before giving another cold smile. "A number of times, it's been a moral one. Do keep to an upstandin' and stalwart moral fiber and deal with things fairly and above board? Or do I decide not risk my losin' the point and resort to things like bribery, thieves, and assassins to make sure the things I value most are held?" she said, before grimacing. "When the safety of the people in my care is at stake, compromising my moral integrity is, to me, a small price to pay. Of course, to me, allowing them to be put at risk for the sake of keeping my hands clean would be an utterly cowardly and selfish act, so I suppose it depends on how you define morality." she said with a shrug.

When Faith spoke, Kura turned her attention to her. Her comments about Cally first drew a surprised look, then an oddly satisfied smile, and she kept that look as she listened to the rest of Faith's comments, at least until she turned to her life as a slave, where the smile dropped to be replaced her usual look of barely contained wrath whenever Athart became a subject of conversation. By the end of it, Kura was considering feeding them alive to the Velduris wolves. If her anger what the life Faith had been raised into got any worse, she'd start taking bites out of the slavers herself.

That was for later though, and she bottled that fury, to be used at the proper time and place. For now, she had something far more engaging to attend to. "You know, I keep underestimatin' you, lass. I think it's because you remind me of Cally, in a way. I keep expectin' you to be more innocent than you actually are." she said, before glancing at Faith's side where Cally was sitting. The ghost, Kura guessed, would have moved over to try and hug Faith when the girl started talking about her life in Athart. Kura remembered the ghosts earthly habits well and was actually looking right at her. "And yes, Cally, I know I kept underestimatin' you too. That bein' said, Faith hasn't shown any signs of bein' capable of berserk rages, and you were otherwise innocent." she said in a dry tone, causing the ghost to try blushing again.

"Three times. It was only three times. And it was beneficial all three times." she muttered, though she seemed pleased that Kura was both talking to her and remembered her well despite thirty years passing since her death.

Kura, however, couldn't hear Cally, and the look she turned to Faith was simultaneously speculative, pleased, and impressed. "I underestimated the extent of what you were doing with Cally's. It is political, and I apologize for not seein' it." she said, before she burst out in laughter. "Oh, it's been far too long. If you ever wish an education in politics, either of you, I would happily oblige. The last truly gifted student I had was Alistair Venora, and the two of you show every sign of being his equal if you wish it. If you want, I can teach you everythin' I've learned over the past century." she said, grinning warmly at her friends.

Then she leaned back in her chair and grinned slightly. "As an example, the choice of activist vs politician has a few facets you might have overlooked, lass. The most important is whose minds you wish to change, whose opinions you wish to influence. An activist deals directly with the people, can change society at a bedrock level by changing the culture itself. A politician deals with other politicians, mostly, and changes society by changing the rules society has to operate by. It's also a matter of skillset. I cannot, for example, easily rally a large crowd to my cause. I can, however, sway just the leaders of a group to my side. Both are equally effective, but require different skills." she said, before letting out a sigh.

"And I owe you an apology, for slighting your patron Immortal, lass." she said, before giving a wry smile. "My mother, you see, purely hates most of the Immortals, and it's left me with an unfortunate tendency to think the worst of them. My mother accused Famula, as the Immortal of Servitude, as quite literally inventin' slavery, and that she keeps ghosts in unwillin' bondage to her will. Likewise, she firmly believes Moseke is lyin' through her teeth about being benevolent, that she's as schemin' and connivin' as her sisters Audrae or Sintra, and as malevolent as her sister Lisirra. After all, the two of them used to be close." she said, before shaking her head. "I grew up on stories like that. Wasn't until I was older that I learned there were other opinions about many Immortals, and that my mother wasn't necessarily correct." she said, before tilting her head. "Granted, I do still believe Moseke is hidin' somethin'. The rest of Cierel's creations are at least a tad unnervin', and she's supposed to be entirely benevolent? Nope, not quite buyin' that. But that bein' said, I don't necessarily think whatever she's hidin' is malevolent, just that she's not as pure as she acts." she said, before shrugging again. "Not an issue until it becomes one, anyway."