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"The likes of you stand to benefit from the likes of me."

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[He can appreciate resourcefulness, if nothing else.]

So you usually have some magic capability?

All artificers do.

[ Now seems the time to settle at a table. ]

We need to understand it fundamentally to work with enchanted materials, and having it can mean the difference between mortally dire accidents and mendable ones.

Huh...

[He'll follow and take his own seat.]

I suppose that goes with any field of expertise. Knowing the limits and understanding the consequences of pushing beyond those limits.

[Which brings him to another thought.]

You asked how long I'd been here, but I didn't ask you. You seem pretty settled.

[ Something cold settles at the pitbof hos stomach. ]

This is my second winter here.

Wait. Two years? Seriously?

What happened to—

[He stops, thinks a moment. These temporary things are still kind of new to him but they aren't new for everyone else here so he shifts the question.]

Did you have a warden before? I mean, a permanent one.

...A little over one. I arrived a couple minths before, I think.

[ He glowers. ]

Not one. I have not been keeping count but I've run out of fingers for how many times I've been through this dance.

Damn. That's [He takes just a moment to calculate his words.] rough.

[Might be lackluster, but his other idea was 'shite' and considering Gortash doesn't even like first-name basis.. Kylar guesses he probably wouldn't care for guttershite talk either.]

You know, they didn't used to do these temporary setups. You used to get paired and that was that. Of course, that came with other problems.

[Ugh. He sounds old. 'Back in my day'... He'll shift topics.]

That said, you don't technically need a warden to get out of here. You could just manage it all on your own. But, wanting to get out is a different issue. I know not everyone wants to.

If my views were all that I needed to leave, I would be gone.

[ He's just willing to put up with an alternative perspective from someone obligated to keep his secrets and advocate for him. ]

I'm interested in using this place but only if it does what it claims to do.

Speaking from experience, it does and doesn't. I think it depends on the person. For me it was more...

[He holds out open hands, like weighing options.]

setting limits. Rules. The barge is safer than where I'm from. It took me a while to figure out how the safety here—the lack of need for my professional skills, let's say—would translate when I got back home. I'd say I'm still working on that part and it's.. had some costs. [There is the briefest bitter frown.]

All to say, this place can't help with everything, if that's what you're expecting.

[A short shrug.]

So what do you want to get out of this? If anything.

[ Go home and muder a god ]

To not be dead anymore.

[He quirks a smile.]

Yeah, no kidding.

[He'll stand up.]

Let me get us the drinks. What's your poison?

[No pun intended....]

Wine, if you please.

[There's so much you can learn about a person from their choice of drink. Kylar gives a quick nod before heading over to get their order settled and returning with a wine bottle and two glasses. Both he sets on the table before sitting back down.]

Hope you don't mind. I grabbed the best I know from home. It's a Sethi wine. If you don't like it, can always get you something else.

I doubt they serve anything necessarily bad here; Wardens have to have some additional perks.

[ Usually, he's putting up with whatever the speakeasy is able to get. Here it is about watching and seeing what his host comes up with. This...is a little more thoughtful, in its own way. He tests the glass in his hand, smells, then takes his first taste. A moment to reflect, and he nods to himself. ]

[Some perks. Hm. Kylar takes his own sip of the wine. He's not a wine drinker by any means. But he knows the nobility prefer this wine and grapes are what Seth is known for. It's not bad.]

Not bad, huh?

So where were we... oh, right.

So you want to use this place to live again, correct? What are you thinking you need to do in order to accomplish that? [He holds up a hand.] Don't say graduate. We know that's part of it. But I mean for you, personally. What do you think the Admiral wants from you?

I have no idea. I assume he is just as misguided as the rest of you but it is not my job to convince myself that I am not correct in that assumption.

[ Gesturing toward him with his free hand. ]

Is that not what he sends permanent wardens files for? So they may make an assessment of what is needed?

[He shrugs and takes another sip of the wine.]

Files are more simplistic than you'd think. I didn't allow my warden to read mine. And I know I'm not the only one to have that preference. Life story, tragic childhoods, list of life's details, but it doesn't give any answers. You don't.. technically need them at all.

It serves at least one purpose. A Warden is contractually obligated not to misuse that information. I won't work with anyone if I do not have that level of protection.

Contractually... [What?]

Unless the Admiral really changed things, there's no contract. Our contract is with the Admiral and that's about it. If a Warden misused or mistreated an Inmate, paired or not they'd probably get demoted.

Your personal information is only as protected as the trust you can put into the person you're speaking to.

Then the contract will have to be between myself and that Warden.

So you're.. making a contract?

[It's a wonder what he's so scared of, what personal information requires this sort of safety net. Then again, how safe could it possibly be in a place like this? It sounds like something Momma K would do but there's a difference here...]

Huh, well, if it makes you feel better. It is hard to trust people around here. Guess I can't blame you.

Is it so unheard of? That a Warden and Inmate come to an agreement regarding how they're to interact with each other?

Nah, that part makes sense. Calling it a contract just seems... kind of formal, don't you think?

[He definitely laid out boundaries for Kara but they certainly weren't so formal. He can't help but assume this is a bit more.. serious?]

And why shouldn't it be?

[How does he explain that the only contracts he's familiar with usually involve money and murder... He decides against explaining and it comes to just a shrug.]

Fair enough.

So if all you're looking for is someone willing to sign this contract for your security, why wait for permanent warden at all?