The drinks are really good.

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{enact.REC}
 
I’m having a hard time figuring out if I am intrigued or already tired of this knock off ren faire, better than anyone else Bridgerton vibe that I’m getting from this weird, strange place. I mean on one hand, the commitment to the effort is amazing — on the other, it just seems to be somebody else’s fantasy that doesn’t really fit with the people that are here. That’s not exactly true, I’d almost say that the people conform to the individuals that are in power here. Not really my problem, is it?
 
Julia asked me to go to this party, and Jasra gave me all sorts of intel, but didn’t really explain anything to me. Well, except for the really most important part — which was that I really didn’t know anything and therefore couldn’t give away any secrets. That does have allude that she has secrets that she’s trying to work on herself, that’s fine. Wondering how I’m going to fit in all those plans.
 
I don’t know if I trust Jasra? Then again, Julia seems to like her and work with her, they’re friends — colleagues, peers. I guess I’ll play along and be friends? I’m still having a hard time figuring out where Jasra’s son fits into all this. It doesn’t seem that he’s really involved, focused, or engaged in anyway with what’s really going on — I would almost assume that he’s dressing, or maybe something’s wrong with him. That is a little unnerving. The concept of how people are in a hierarchy or subservient to those truly with power — that’s why I like Theo, but I’m getting ahead of myself, a little more on that later.
 
The party … I was sent there to be some eyes and ears, see what’s going on and possibly take advantage of whatever situations were happening. Typical recon at a medieval times turkey leg eating fantasy convention. I will say, the drinks are really good.
 
I helped out with some sort of dispute that was going on between two minor nobles and a land disagreement, with horses. It was mildly interesting to talk to the nobles... She’s very full of herself. Oh gosh, what’s her name? I should know this hold on… {notation.ref:”Lady Julia Chen-Aston”} Well, there’s a mouthful. Actually, who am I kidding? That’s nothing compared to some of the Vietnamese gang names. I guess her and … {notation.ref:”Lord Alex Bayle-Ascott”} — I should hesitate in saying that I helped out. I interrupted things which has an effect all of itself. I need to follow up with Bayle-Ascot and ensure that the BTA is being just as corporate flirtatious with Bayle-Ascot as they are with Lady Julia.
 
I will say there was one good thing that came out of this party and that was meeting Sunni {notation.ref:”Sunitha Barimen”} she is… there’s something really intriguing about when you meet the most intelligent person in the room. She’s sharp. She’s shrewd, observant, a good conversationalist. The one thing I do wonder about her is why she’s in the position that she’s in. I’m assuming that she would have a lot more ambition that she lets on. That would make sense given {edit.redact} I didn’t really have much chance to get into details with her, but I’ll admit — I would not mind having a chance to talk to her more in depth. There were other people there at the party people that I should note, but none of them were as captivating as she was.
 
Which makes me think did I move too fast on confronting the king about bloodlines? Possibly. If anything, it gave me insight onto how the maneuverings of these powerful individuals work within this corporate court. {edit.notation: Hereditary hierarchy megacorps with a caste system is one of the absolute worst, and one of the worst to break out of. No wonder there’s some much conservative valued pushback against Random.}
 
{edit.notation.action: I should do some more research on trump. Their communication style with this arcane ability? It definitely falls into the realm of magic over technology. Not necessarily my forte, but if it’s like anything else that I have learned throughout my experiences, there is a way to codify it and therefore all it takes is time. I’ll have to follow up with Julia and see what kind of research she’s done. I might guess that Jasra has done something with it as well? I will have to pose it to them as a way for me to delve into intelligence gathering.}
 
I had my conversation with my grandfather? — Saying that out loud seems strange.
 
I realize the reason I have hesitation — for so long, no, for my entire life — I have known no family structure — not in the ancient traditional sense. The way I’ve known bonds between individuals have been through the professional relations that one builds when working together or in the organization of elite corp team, when dealing with the machinations of much larger powers than ourselves.
 
We talked about proving the bloodline, {edit.notation.action: provide documentation to the king, but hold off until a more appropriate time to share that information.} Random brought up having my blood work tested through magical means {notation.ref:”Fiona”}. And from how he described her, it sounded like the most powerful wizard known to their organization, or the multiverse? As I said to him, I have a little bit of concern — putting biological tracings into the hands of someone that is considered a sorcerer supreme. I’ve seen a few movies, thanks.
 
He implied he would look into getting a hold of Martin… Something tells me, my intuition tells me, that either will not or won’t be able to get a hold of him. I just don’t see it being that easy. He had nothing to lend as far as what he thinks Martin is up to, or his whereabouts, or anything, I’ll use this as a last ditch possibility, but I’ll see if I can try to get up Trump of Martin and contact him that way. It’s risky, but it could prove useful if done at the right time. I think it’s a very least, I would like to have a photo of him that’s not from some leftover security camera footage.
 
One thing of note — the king mentioned something about attunement, and having knowledge or vision into inner workings with Pattern. He identified my abilities as Broken Pattern. Which, if we’re looking at a show of capabilities, he did it with the most casual affair. {edit.notation:Rude.} That these people, this family, considers themselves the very height of this universe — The most casual arrogance. That combined with the assumption that certain types of technology will not work within this realm does show interesting weak points. Difficult to exploit, but done properly could prove devastating.
 
Oh … I ended up missing a lot of this at the party, but there was the introduction of an individual named Theo, who seems to be from a world iteration of Hong Kong. He captured the attention of a lot of the others. What I found interesting was that there was many assumptions made as to why he was dropped off there, and by some sort of entity known as Dworkin I believe was mentioned.
 
While we were at the party, there was an attack on a trade group along one of the shadow paths. It seems that firearm technology that is not supposed to be easily accessible, or workable this close to Amber, easily mowed down the entire BTA caravan. With initial investigations, they were able to determine that those munitions were removed from the royal armory. Which was noted that hadn’t been checked over somewhere along in the last century.
 
I have — a lot of — questions about this armory. First, were the missing munitions there in the first place? Second, knowing the reliance on magic, was there some technology that was used to quietly remove the munitions? Third, how reliable is the head of security for this armory? Four, we are assuming that the security worked perfectly in the first place — was it tested? Has anyone tried to reach it before in the past? I’m just seeing there’s a lot of assumptions with this armory that are not adding up to me. It makes no sense.
 
As far as the attack on the trade route, it seemed {edit.redact} There really wasn’t anything left as far as evidence or loopholes to be covered. It was a good plan. I will note, Theo was helpful in the investigation — his skills are above mine. I like him. I definitely don’t trust him. The conversation that I had with him, and his opinions on what’s going on here, I think he’s going to be a potentially dangerous wildcard. And the individuals that have been left in his supervision having a general lack of, as far as I understand, no care or skill… that this person could end up being quite dangerous. He has no reservations about murder. I would say he's someone to keep close, as an enemy or an ally.
 
{pause.REC} {resume.REC} I’d go into to more details, but it seems there’s been a similar attack on a shipyard, using the same munitions that were stolen from the armory. My continued work with Sunni, hopefully we will be able to come to some sort of conclusions. {edit.notation.action: Once I have more information, I plan to follow up with Julia and let her know what I found and coordinate with her on what she’s up to.}
 
I think it’s too early for me to say if I like this place or not. The way that Sunni talked about it, it was the only time that she gave an air of it being an ideal? She hold this place with respect and reverence. It’s really no surprise to me that this place has so many enemies.
Well, I ended up answering the question from the start — I’m intrigued. I don’t think I’m going to be tired of this place anytime soon.
 
{close.REC}
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