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Feyrahl, SoFurry Edition

Not Without Recourse, Ch 2.1

Mac's first day in Feyrahl left him with so many questions that he didn't know where to begin. Even after his second day he was no better off, or even at the end of his first week. By the time his second week concluded, the Human began to realize that he had to start making some forward motion in his comprehension of the world, the empire, and its citizens; he needed to understand more about the Feyrahlians and his random meandering about did very little to accomplish that. By the time his third week came around Mac had come up with an action plan, and he put it into motion.

Although he continued to obey Khosk's very pointed directions whenever they were given, the Human stopped actively seeking them out. Instead, Mac let Khosk know where he wanted to go and let his bodyguard take him there (or, more often than not, shove, push and herd him there). Mac spent some time wandering among the people of the palace, watching and listening but that ultimately led him to creating numerous pages of notes regarding etiquette and societal norms that weren't the easiest to follow. After that he came to the conclusion that he needed to start out at a much more basic level and by mid-week he directed Khosk to take him into town proper. The Lion didn't seem to like it, but he complied.

Walking the city streets, Mac was able to observe that the common folk and their interactions were a lot more straight-forward. Meandering through the boulevards and main thoroughfares (Khosk pointedly kept him out of the alleys) with a Lion who was apparently well-known by the commoners meant that Mac wasn't able to interact with them on their level (they usually gave him a wide berth), he at least had the chance to observe them. Mac had always been the sociable sort but he had to admit that he also enjoyed people-watching... even if those people were animal folk.

The commoners, he noticed, tended to be much more relaxed socially. While there was still a certain rhythm to their interactions, the convoluted social mores and confusing layers in forms of address were absent; most folks seemed to speak to one another using given names or surnames, or by their profession-- as with the nobles, the level of familiarity appeared to play a part in how personal the dialogue played out. He got a few tastes of interaction on the few occasions the Feyrahlians had reason to speak with him.

Invariably, during one of the rare moments he himself was addressed, the commoners usually referred to him as either 'Human' (racial references were the most formal among the common folk) or 'Courtier' which, if Mac had to make a guess, was what they perceived his profession to be. It made sense in a way since he was a gift of the Emperor and stayed at the castle, but it wasn't exactly ingratiating, or a way to start making meaningful connections. Through it all, Khosk didn't say a word, simply standing off to the side passively-- though Mac had no doubt that the Lion would be able to intervene with incredible swiftness if there was a reason to jump into action.

Toward the end of his third week, Mac finally began to understand the ebb and flow of interaction among the commoners and, with that knowledge, he felt a little more confident in trying to understand the nobility and so, for the next two days he spent his time walking through the palace, watching the interaction between the Feyrahlians of the court. It was readily obvious to him that there were four distinct 'styles' of social play at work, and the courtiers used those different methods in different quantities.

The most common method used by most of high society was polite indifference. There was a certain mild dismissal that was expected when two courtiers met one another-- small talk leading to farewells. It was a strange way to acknowledge another party but, as Mac had learned, acknowledgement was important to avoid inadvertently insulting someone. Most of those exchanges took place in the matter of thirty seconds as two courtiers passed one another in the hallway. It was the first form of social interaction Mac came to understand and knowing that much helped him avoid so many faux pas that had tarnished his reputation in the first few weeks and helped him learn the second method of interaction.

If the first method of acknowledgement plus polite dismissal was equivalent to a "How are you?" without expecting a real answer, then the second form of interaction was essentially small talk. At that level, Mac had seen numerous discussions among small groups of courtiers talking about just about anything of no significance-- sometimes it was weather, and other times it was talk about a recent meal or an upcoming event but, no matter what it was, the talk was always superficial and never went into any great detail or depth. Mac also learned through practicing that social style, was how to transition into the third: gossip.

In actuality, the deeper method of discourse was a combination of hearsay and actual details-- insofar as Mac could guess, it was up to the listener to differentiate fact from opinion... or, in some cases, out-and-out falsehood. As far as he could guess, he himself was the topic of most of the courtly discussion in what he'd labeled the third form of interaction. Surprisingly, once he'd mastered the first two forms, he was able to slip into the third quite easily as the courtiers were all to happy to engage in rather bland gossip and information sharing.

He learned various pieces of semi-useless information, such as the best time in the castle to get a snack from the kitchen, the best blacksmith in town (there were three prevailing opinions), or why it was Khosk was a head guardsman rather than his brother-- that last discussion ended quickly once the petty nobles present realized that Guardsman Khosk was within earshot. In the next few minutes of awkward silence, Mac wasn't entirely sure what to expect, but that was when he was given a front-row view of the fourth form of courtly interaction: throwing social capital around.

The petty nobles involved in the discussion regarding Khosk and Vihas, somehow managed to both apologize and also blame Khosk for being present at the same time. The exact exchange was lost to Mac in the artistry of social context that bordered on manipulation but, at the culmination of the exchange Khosk stepped back into his position behind and to the side of Mac, neither consoled nor further insulted, but possibly belittled at the same time? The Human really wasn't sure, but what he DID know was that he'd be content to stick to the first three methods of socialization; the exact manner of courtly interaction was not really something he was interested in experiencing further.

That topic came up for discussion that evening before his fourth week began. Mac was seated in his room flipping through one of several books he was able to retrieve from the palace's enormous library. With the dialogue on his mind he found it hard to focus and instead of continuing to read, he set the tome on his nightstand and walked to his door, opening it, and turned to regard Khosk, who likewise turned to regard him. Mac kept it simple. "Sir Khosk, please come in. I want to speak with you."

The Lion made no obvious response, verbal or otherwise, but complied. Khosk entered the room, closing the door behind himself before turning to face Mac again. When the Human didn't speak up right away, his bodyguard did instead. "What is it, Millman?"

Mac carefully watched Khosk's expression. "Was it true what that Impala said about you and your brother?"

Khosk was not easy to read, but Mac had learned some of his tells in the prior weeks and the twitch from the Lion's eye was a sure sign that he was perturbed. "You would have to be more specific."

The Human pressed his luck. "Is it true that you became a lead guard instead of Vihas because you handled a street fight better?"

The subtle twitch of Khosk's whiskers identified that Mac was indeed pushing it. Surprisingly, the Lion answered. "No, Millman. It wasn't a street fight; there were a band of cut throats harassing citizens on the streets. My brother and I intervened, saved the citizens, and killed or captured the criminals... but we were both wounded." At which point the guardsman reached up and tapped his eyebrow that was split by a scar. "Vihas' was more severe, and so I was chosen as the candidate to become a lead guard."

Mac nodded, feeling both pleased that Khosk would tell him, but also a little ashamed that he pressed the question. "Thank you for telling me."

Khosk grunted. "You are trying to learn more about how to interact with the court. You can ask ME these questions, but do not think you will be able to ask them. Power in court is based on family name, holding, and coin. You have none of those three."

Despite the dour, dismissive tone the Lion used, he did make a point. "Right... and I'm not from this world, I don't have any land... the only thing I can hope to do is find a way to get some money."

His bodyguard snorted. "Hmph... you need to find a way to make yourself useful since the Emperor has not seen fit to award you a stipend."

Mac raised an eyebrow, turning to regard the Lion. "A stipend? What do you mean?"

Khosk gestures around the Human's room. "The Emperor provides his retainers lodgings at the castle, but those who work also receive an allowance-- payment for the work they provide. You haven't made yourself useful, so the Sage King hasn't seen a need to give you payment. Find a way to contribute and that may change."

Mac rubbed his chin, wondering what a degree in Chemistry could be good for in Feyrahl, and he was just starting to dream up some creative opportunities but a knock at the door pulled his attention to it. Khosk opened the door immediately, speaking as he did so. "Millman is looking for a way to be useful. He wants a stipend."

The door opened to reveal Vihas; Mac had understood that it was getting late but he hadn't considered that it was time for the shift change. As Khosk walked out he added "Give him a few ideas... the Emperor should have a use for him aside from being an oddity."

Once the door closed Vihas turned to look at Mac; the Lion's eyes maintained that eerie pale-blue glow to them and, for the longest time, the Human thought that he wasn't going to get any input but, ultimately, Vihas did speak up. "Warfare, magic, or knowledge." With his piece said, the Lion stepped back outside without so much as a 'goodnight' and he closed the door behind himself.

Mac paused to consider those options carefully. He'd already tried his hand at fighting those strange lizards on his way to the palace and that hadn't turned out well so 'warfare' would probably require a lot of training. Magic, Mac realized, was probably a dead end since he came from a world where magic didn't exist-- on the other hand, Khosk had said the Wind Spirit helping him with translation would have disappeared in days, and it hadn't needed to be refreshed in three weeks so perhaps there was more to it than that.

Of course, the OBVIOUS answer was knowledge. Mac was a college graduate, and that meant he had a lot of knowledge to share. Even as he started getting ready for bed, the Human considered possibly offering services as a tutor to the Emperor; if he was as much a Sage King as was implied, he would surely be interested in learning something new! Alternatively, he might do better with some applied uses of chemistry; Mac had interned at enough organisations to know a large number of applicable methods of improving the lives of the Feyrahlians.

Even as the Human laid his head down on the pillow, his mind was still abuzz with possibilities; a simple answer was to pick up something simple and unobtrusive-- why make any waves when any old task that needed doing could fit him just fine? He fell asleep with his mind still awash with possibilities.