GaiganMorePlanning

From IMiA

Having settled in and with the ship now underway, Juliana is happy to change into something more comfortable and lounge on the deck (out of the way) for discussion with the boys.

As O'Donovan knows from carting this woman around before, Juliana likes the sun on her skin. What she's wearing now is actually toned back from the bikini tops and skirts she usually parades around in. Either she's more nervous about flaunting herself like that without the Duke around, or there is some other reason. Regardless, she's wearing a white vest with matching shorts, sandals, and has pulled her hair loose from it's braid.

Her lady's maid is wandering about the edges of the deck, watching the sailors work. She looks as if she's never been on a ship before and is facinated. She's young with brown hair, mocha skin and coffee eyes. She seems a little shy of men in general. She's dressed about like you'd expect a lady's maid to be dressed, but the clothes are fine.

Juliana looks to Rod first, and says, "So ask."

He smiles. "The questions are, I believe, obvious. So, Doña Pinegar tell."

Juliana looks hard at Rod a minute. Then she shrugs. "Gaiga is the kind of place where people get carried away by emotion. Part of the reason so many layers grew into the beurocracy over the years was to curb emotional decision making - or to let only the highest ranking people make emotional decisions, at any rate. Yet it's true across the board - commoners to Kings, they often decide based on what they feel. I don't know if this is cultural or if they are just missing a piece of brain, but I suspect it's nurtured, as I have seen people use logic and sense, on occassion." She smirks and pulls her blowing hair back to hold it over her shoulder.

"The upside of this is, if you are good at emotional manipulation, Gaiga is an easy place to work. The downside is, when there is an arsonist on the loose, the population may decide it's a fire demon and start burning sorcerors. When the population gets hungry... they're going to riot sooner and more violently. I don't believe they're hungry yet, but I don't know. There isn't enough intelligence - at least not that I've seen." Juliana lets her hair go, and shakes her head. "We're trying to get in on the front end, here."

"Given all that, as much as the traditional Houses protest this recognition of a female as heir - for it upsets their own personal view of how the world should work - the commoners are likely behind the King, because he's putting the child he loves best on the throne, and he must love her best for a good reason, and they should too." She certainly looks dubious that Kings should be trusted that their emotions are the best course, but it only shows in the tilt of her lips and the small wrinkles around her eyes.

"You do think the girl is the proper heir, do you not?" O'Donovan asked in a desperate attempt to get the thread moving again.

Juliana smiles slowly. "I've never met her, Sean. I have all kinds of wild opinions on how a King should choose an heir. From what Rob has told me, she is the smart one, the practical one, the one least likely to misuse her position for personal gain. Her brothers are [neither interested nor fit] too ambitious for him, I think, even given that he's never recognized any of them. If the heir the King names is the proper heir, that's her. If the heir Amber's crown supports is the proper heir, that's her. I'm satisfied she's the proper heir. And I don't think you should call her a girl, dear."

O'Donovan cocks an eyebrow at that. "Hold old is she?"

"How old is she?" Juliana blinks and thinks about this. "Well, younger than me, I hope," is her answer. "Does that matter Sean? Are you going to decide she's not fit, or are you trying to answer some other question you have in that head of yours you aren't sharing?"

"I mean, is she of age? Is calling her a girl merely impolite, or is it inaccurate as well?" The Commodore shrugs. "Makes no difference to me either way, I'm just curious."

"Oh, well," Juliana laughs. "It is inaccurate and impolite. They don't live as long in Gaiga as we do in Amber. Their class structure brings out even more differences - I don't know if that's nutrition, general care, or the magical underpinings of the place. You can expect a Royal in Gaiga to live close to the lifespan of an average citizen of Amber, and their sorcerors make it almost as long. Nobility seems to average lower - about 750 years. The upper merchant class down to the lowest classes, between 600 and 400."

She smiles at them again. "Sorry, you got me thinking. The Crown Princess was old enough for the King to be making judgements about her character when I was here 40 years ago, so by their standards she has been of age for some time, although she is still young - by the standards of Gaigan Royalty. We didn't talk about this with Tony - it just didn't seem important. But it could be, if they're trying to argue young inexperienced woman. 'Girl' becomes a slur, then, you see. It makes no difference in what I'm going to do... but it could be making an impact throughout the society, if, for example, people are refusing to patronize female merchants who have been successful until now as a means to prove women can not be leaders - are not as capable. The sexism was endemic in the higher classes, but not as visible in the middle and lower. Not as limiting."

She rubs her forehead with the palm of her hand.

When she pauses, O'Donovan can be heard to mutter, "Older than my grandmother, ergo not a girl."

Rodrigo very carefully does not comment on Grandmother O'Donovan and her age, lest he be considered a dirty old man. He also does not comment on Juliana's girlhood, but he does remember it. Fondly.

"What is the appeal of our position to the conservative houses? Best if we can give them some argument that they can save face with. 'The King may not have made a wise choice or a choice you approve of, but it is his choice. You would not want to set a precedent that your rights could be stripped if you made a choice your vassals didn't agree with, would you? Gaiga and her traditions are strong enough that even if the King has chosen poorly, she will survive, for her nobles are strong. If the Queen is weak, then it is the strength of the nobility that will sustain the kingdom.'" He looks at his audience questioningly. "They're not thinking of their own advantage, or else they'd be rooting for a weak central government."

"I think some of them - Saum, specifically - have some bastard royal canidates laying about they think they can gain advantage with. The chance for Lord Saum to be the King's Uncle likely looks very appealing to him. I like the way you're thinking, though. And indeed, it can be argued the Gaiga survived this King's father. Even as an arguement for keeping an unwed Queen in power, and leaving any husband a consort. The King's father... ran through most of the treasury. He made consistantly poor decisions - rewarding his friends instead of doing what was best for the kingdom. No control over this monstrous beurocracy - which is still horrible but mearly half of what it once was. So it shouldn't be far from the elder's memories how that impacted their taxes." She grins, and shakes her head. "It's a wonder to me they'd even want to argue with a King who has brought them back to weath and gain, and has consistantly improved the treasury while doing it. But then, he has a certain trade agreement to that for that, and it's time to pay the piper."

Ongoing

-- Main.LizTrumitch - 23 Sep 2005