Jaela: getting stuff done (Jaela)

[Anastasia]

To be clear, which book is this?

[Corwin]

This one.
The book was a lie!

[Anastasia]

Dana reads a few pages - startlingly quick - and laughs, "Thing is, this is boring bullshit unless you want to pet the kitty. A proper princess isn't even supposed to know what most of those things are."

[Corwin]

Jaela laughs with her, heading for Morniel's quarters. "It's pretty direct, isn't it? Though you do like that sort of thing over touchy-feeling romance and angst."

[Anastasia]

"Sure, better than that bullshit. But getting a man and riding him is better than any of it." Dana rolls her eyes, "Shit, how hard is it to go get stuffed rather than sigh and mope over a story?" Her voice rises to a mocking, quivering tone, "Oh no, I might get p-pregnant!"

Meanwhile it's not far to Morniel's quarters. He's waiting for you outside of them, "Elena informed me you wished to see me?"

[Corwin]

"That's right," Jaela agrees, smiling at Morniel. "I was hoping to hear of your visit with Queen Vla'akith, as well as ask what gift you brought her. I realized far too late that I forgot to suggest one, though a seasoned diplomat like yourself was probably on the ball while the amateurs snoozed?"

[Anastasia]

"A crown," Morniel explains as he escorts you into his room. "Best not to talk of matters in the halls." Once you're inside and comfortable, "Some realms do not recognize Vlaakith's rule or only do so reluctantly. Celestia does not dispute it, as she is the lawful queen of the githyanki, even if we deeply disagree with what she does. A crown says that Aurora does as well and that we do not dispute her reign."

Crown cost 8k, post and deduct that from the Aurora fund in loot.

[Corwin]

Jaela inclines her head. "My sentiments exactly." That really summarizes her feelings about Vla'akith, and so she asks instead, "Is she willing to assist? If so, is she able to, and what does she wish in return?"

[Anastasia]

"No shit? Who doesn't approve of Queeny there? At least she has her shit together and went to kick ass. Better than a lot of royals, who think fucking and feasting are all they have to do." Dana rolls her eyes.

"Ahem," Morniel clears his throat, "The eladrin are on generally poor terms with them, as well as the efreet. It's unusual, usually Baator and the Grand Sultan are fairly identical on minor foreign policy issues such as this, but relations with the githyanki and the City of Brass are strained. The current sultan's position is that Vlaakith is not the rightful ruler of her people. Why they do not go far as to openly declare that she is a pretended, it is heavily implied. The root of this goes back to..."

"Fuck, alright, I get it," Dana groans, facepalming into her gauntlet, "Look, no fucking offense, but how long ago did that happen? How about something in the here and now?"

"As you like," Morniel continues smoothly, "Yes, she's willing to cooperate, though what she wants depends on the exact terms. She'd want an official treaty for serious cooperation, a prudent step that we can use to reinforce our own position as well."

[Corwin]

"What I'm saying is for internal consumption," Jaela warns, before telling Morniel and Dana, "We don't leave our own behind. Doubly so for a suffering Lifasan. If she can get us Muirfinn, I don't see the rest of the generals opposing to an official alliance with Vla'akith. From a practical standpoint alone, she would have proven her worth. And we could mitigate Tiamat, too, while we're at it." She pauses, eyeing Morniel. "It's equally important to be clear here that we're not selling out our own for any alliance. She'll need to keep turning a blind eye to Vul'lath and his acolytes, which is non-negotiable. From this latest audience, do you think she understands this? As for some tangible gains, you could confide on her that Aurora doesn't think highly of the efreet, either, and we might be willing to blacken their eye. They keep slave farms on Fire, don't they?"

[Anastasia]

"That's the one sticking point," Morniel says, "Vlaakith's position is tied somewhat to Tiamat and the well known pact the githyanki have with red dragons. She does, she has a keen appreciation of politics. She alluded to Vul'lath and that he could be tolerated."

Smiling slightly, "The githyanki and archons agree on little, but we agree on the the matter of slavery. Such was a safe ground for discussion and we confirmed each other's disgust with it. Strikes against the efreet are an option."

"Yeah?" Dana says, "But what about everyone else? Can we get our diplomatic dicks from getting chopped off from this?"

Morniel winces, "The Battle of the Astral Rift may have helped that. Vlaakith, even if acting selfishly, was still seen as cooperating against the daemons. A little more leeway there, though I would want to make diplomatic overtures to sources to smooth over any problems before we commit to this."

[Corwin]

Jaela nods slowly. "In the end, we're a Crusade to restore Lifasa and crush devils. We champion other causes of freedom, but those are our stated, main goals. Neither of them excludes an alliance with gith, however many issues their society has. And, in turn, I don't think our celestial allies will see it as a deal-breaker so long as we don't act directly in support of anything objectionable. Teaming up to crush her enemies among the efreet? Perfectly fine. But we're not going to be hunting down errant gith to feed to her, or lead punitive raids against githzerai monasteries like her enforcers." With a smile at Dana, she adds, "It couldn't hurt to talk to a few of those allies discreetly if we manage to get our negotiations to a stage where we get Muirfinn back."

[Anastasia]

"Sure, whatever," Dana agrees, "Muirfinn should fucking get out, that's fucking bullshit that he's held."

Morniel merely nods gravely, "Then by your leave, I'd like to immediately open a new round of talks with her, as well as hire treaty writers to forge an acceptable treaty for both sides."

[Corwin]

"Be sure to find a way to mention that Lief was handed to Lixer, so Muirfinn's situation is likely subject to change as well with sufficient effort," Jaela notes. "Good luck with your efforts. Before you go, however, I'd like to tell you that I'm headed out to Fire. There was that bra guy from Lifasa, Crellen, that I wanted to visit again. He's pretty high up in Kossuth's clergy, we're talking over a decade for a mortal. Want me to try and ask about efreet targets?" Any advice for Kossuth's place would also be welcome, though Jaela suddenly feels awkward stating as much directly.

[Anastasia]

Morniel listens, then blinks and says, "I'm sorry, but 'bra guy?'"