[D9 MA] Moving Forward

[Zeno Thul]

Zeno waited for the arrival of his invited guest. He wanted to discuss a few things. He was hoping that the truth of the politics on Alderaan might reveal and help people see the truth. And perhaps Thul might not be defined as the people with the Imperial camp on their land and instead as the loyal supporters of the crown they had proven to be.

[Jocasta Teraan]

Zeno waited for the arrival of his invited guest. He wanted to discuss a few things. He was hoping that the truth of the politics on Alderaan might reveal and help people see the truth. And perhaps Thul might not be defined as the people with the Imperial camp on their land and instead as the loyal supporters of the crown they had proven to be.

Jocasta arrived at the appointed time. She felt odd not wearing her uniform, but opted to wear a conservative noble's outfit instead. It was more fitting for this type of meeting anyway.

Seeing her host, she greeted him, "Duke-Consort Thul, I am honored by your invitation."

[Zeno Thul]

He nods to Jocasta. "Lieutenant Teraan, I am pleased that you accepted."

Leading the way to an outdoor sitting location, he offers a seat. "Would you like a drink?"

He walks over to a serving droid and picks up something he had apparently asked for earlier. "I'm having caf, to fight off sleep. And I may have added a nip of whiskey, to fight off the aches. Whatever you'd like."

[Jocasta Teraan]

He nods to Jocasta. "Lieutenant Teraan, I am pleased that you accepted."

Leading the way to an outdoor sitting location, he offers a seat. "Would you like a drink?"

He walks over to a serving droid and picks up something he had apparently asked for earlier. "I'm having caf, to fight off sleep. And I may have added a nip of whiskey, to fight off the aches. Whatever you'd like."

"It's just Jocasta for the time being, but I would happily accept a caf. Thank you."

[Zeno Thul]

The serving droid moves inside a door not far away, beeping it's understanding.

"Very well Jocasta," he says with a nod. "So... yesterday sucked," he says pretty plainly as he finally sits across from the seat he offered.

"But it changes a great many things. Including a perception of the houses, and even the Empire a little bit with Lord Beniko having been commended by the queen. I say this not to suggest working with the empire is a good idea. I say it because perceptions will change drastically. I believe that working with Thul will be more appealing moving forward with how Ulgo embarrassed itself. Which opens up potential opportunities to create distance between a house and the Empire."

[Jocasta Teraan]

The serving droid moves inside a door not far away, beeping it's understanding.

"Very well Jocasta," he says with a nod. "So... yesterday sucked," he says pretty plainly as he finally sits across from the seat he offered.

"But it changes a great many things. Including a perception of the houses, and even the Empire a little bit with Lord Beniko having been commended by the queen. I say this not to suggest working with the empire is a good idea. I say it because perceptions will change drastically. I believe that working with Thul will be more appealing moving forward with how Ulgo embarrassed itself. Which opens up potential opportunities to create distance between a house and the Empire."

Taking her seat, Jocasta sips her caf and listens intently to Zeno while he speaks, a slight smile slowly forming on her face. "I will admit, I was not surprised that Delegate Beniko would act as she did, but I was pleased that she was in a position to aid the Queen and Princess Jameela.

I am very glad to hear you may be able to leverage this into something that will aid House Thul in breaking from the influence of the Empire. As I mentioned in our previous conversation, as long as House Thul acts in favor of Alderaan and the Crown, which you have to a tremendous extent, then House Teraan would be happy to stand next to and in support of House Thul. Now, more than ever, we must bring the Houses together under the Crown."

[Zeno Thul]

"Yes, and we need to do so in the name of hunting down and eliminating the Cunning Man threat. Thul has some information on it, but we are also playing catchup, because we were left out of the loop while people investigated us for things his group did. But I am ready and willing to assist personally, and put what resources I can behind the hunt," he says.

"They sought to start a civil war here, but was the purpose to cause problems with Alderaan or to cause problems with the Republic because of Alderaan? We need to make sure this threat is handled."

[Jocasta Teraan]

"Yes, and we need to do so in the name of hunting down and eliminating the Cunning Man threat. Thul has some information on it, but we are also playing catchup, because we were left out of the loop while people investigated us for things his group did. But I am ready and willing to assist personally, and put what resources I can behind the hunt," he says.

"They sought to start a civil war here, but was the purpose to cause problems with Alderaan or to cause problems with the Republic because of Alderaan? We need to make sure this threat is handled."

"Cunning Man, this is the first time I'm hearing the name. Major Koor mentioned a theory of some outside forces manipulating people on Alderaan. I figured after Bouris's very bold act that it was settled he was behind it all?" she asks quizzically.

"If a threat to Alderaan remains, than I am in full support of eliminating it."

[Zeno Thul]

"Unless Bouris was the Cunning Man, and I'm not sure if he was, then he is still out there. But there have been multiple conspiracies that I have heard about. Star Cabal, which is focused on hurting force users including both Jedi and Sith. Then Cunning Man, who was involved with the sowing of dissent. He might have been just someone working with Ulgo, he might have been Ulgo, or he might have been someone that inspired Ulgo to insurrection," he say with a shrug. "All of this needs to be cleared up, as it was all clandestine and confusing."

[Jocasta Teraan]

"Unless Bouris was the Cunning Man, and I'm not sure if he was, then he is still out there. But there have been multiple conspiracies that I have heard about. Star Cabal, which is focused on hurting force users including both Jedi and Sith. Then Cunning Man, who was involved with the sowing of dissent. He might have been just someone working with Ulgo, he might have been Ulgo, or he might have been someone that inspired Ulgo to insurrection," he say with a shrug. "All of this needs to be cleared up, as it was all clandestine and confusing."

Jocasta considered his words for a moment. "I agree with your sentiment. An overabundance of caution is necessary when dealing with such insidious methods. If there are any elements remaining that might wish harm on Alderaan, we must investigate this to the end. How may I help?"

[Zeno Thul]

"I would like to do what I can to be involved with the other families at the peace summit, Ulgo and Rist included, to organize a specific task force for this. You were not there at the summit, but that would be a failure to not include all houses in the effort to protect all houses."

[Jocasta Teraan]

"I would like to do what I can to be involved with the other families at the peace summit, Ulgo and Rist included, to organize a specific task force for this. You were not there at the summit, but that would be a failure to not include all houses in the effort to protect all houses."

"This is also the first time I am hearing about a peace summit. It seems there was much more going on than I could have even presumed.

Though House Teraan is a Great House, we do not involve ourselves so heavily in the politics of Court. My father is much more interested in financial connections than political ones. There are a good number of Houses, Great and Minor, who are likewise less engaged in the day to day politicking. I agree that we would be remiss to neglect their resources."

[Zeno Thul]

"While Thul itself is a regular player on the political stage, I am not personally. This was a little bit of a coming out party for me actually. I tend to spend much of my time training with the Blackguard and raising my daughters. But my wife and I felt it important to get my face out there and become more recognizable. To defang the prejudices. But it leaves me in a state of not really being clear on the many houses capabilities and resources. So I will need help organizing such a group if possible," he says with a nod. "I will be able to bring some significant resources to the table, both personal and from Thul, but it's more than likely going to be other houses that will enable cooperation at a better level."

[Jocasta Teraan]

"While Thul itself is a regular player on the political stage, I am not personally. This was a little bit of a coming out party for me actually. I tend to spend much of my time training with the Blackguard and raising my daughters. But my wife and I felt it important to get my face out there and become more recognizable. To defang the prejudices. But it leaves me in a state of not really being clear on the many houses capabilities and resources. So I will need help organizing such a group if possible," he says with a nod. "I will be able to bring some significant resources to the table, both personal and from Thul, but it's more than likely going to be other houses that will enable cooperation at a better level."

"Well, I have recently freed up a significant portion of my schedule, so I am more than happy to offer my services. I do not have much experience in investigations, but I am well versed in organizing groups of people towards a goal. It sounds like you intend to start a small group of trusted people, drawn from various Houses, to investigate this Cunning Man. It also sounds like you want to familiarize yourself with the Houses as well as familiarize them with House Thul."

Jocasta sips her caf for a moment while organizing her thoughts. "While there are plenty of groups and councils already, they each have their own agenda, purview, and limited membership. In light of recent events, it could be a good idea for House Thul to propose the creation of a new council, with equal representation from each House, whose goal is to further unity and cooperation among the Houses. In the ADF, we share commanders and meet in training exercises to improve our skills. There's no reason we can't do the same with House forces. House Thul and the Blackguard showed their expertise yesterday, and it would create a lot of good will to offer to share that expertise via training. This will also give us a chance to see what the other Houses are working with and who can best aid in this hunt."

[Zeno Thul]

"I'm not opposed to the idea, but I think that any effort to improve cooperation between houses should be headed by the Crown. I am more than glad to share training and expertise that my people have undertaken. None of it is actually secret. Though the force related training is likely to go unheeded I imagine. The majority of people with such training on Alderaan are Jedi, and will likely continue to be into the future. Not that I'm opposed to the idea, but the Jedi would likely be opposed to any Alderaanian force training organization, and vigorously so, to the point where it wouldn't be worth the effort."

"I appreciate the offer of time and expertise though. I will call upon it if I can get enough momentum behind the idea."

[Jocasta Teraan]

"I'm not opposed to the idea, but I think that any effort to improve cooperation between houses should be headed by the Crown. I am more than glad to share training and expertise that my people have undertaken. None of it is actually secret. Though the force related training is likely to go unheeded I imagine. The majority of people with such training on Alderaan are Jedi, and will likely continue to be into the future. Not that I'm opposed to the idea, but the Jedi would likely be opposed to any Alderaanian force training organization, and vigorously so, to the point where it wouldn't be worth the effort."

"I appreciate the offer of time and expertise though. I will call upon it if I can get enough momentum behind the idea."

"What I envision would not necessarily have a leader. The Crown should certainly be involved and have representation as their own House, but it shouldn't be another arena for Houses to butt heads and rattle sabers at one another. And every House should contribute knowledge and training.

Do you have any others in mind for this task force? I imagine Major Koor and Knight Hoshin have interests in identifying the Cunning Man."

[Zeno Thul]

"I was going to be heading to check on Layne in a little bit. She hates me, and probably will never change her opinion, but that won't stop me from reaching out. I'll invite Delmi, but she came to house Thul for personal reasons that ran their course with us. She'll likely end up moving on to another mission, but I will invite her to share what she can and what she learns in the future with the task force," he says with a nod.

"As for the a council to promote inter-house cooperation. I would support such a thing. I would be among the first behind you to offer support for the idea if you wished to seek it. But I do have my doubts as to whether other houses would be similarly inclined. I will support you, if you propose it though. The worst that could happen is nothing happens."

[Jocasta Teraan]

"I was going to be heading to check on Layne in a little bit. She hates me, and probably will never change her opinion, but that won't stop me from reaching out. I'll invite Delmi, but she came to house Thul for personal reasons that ran their course with us. She'll likely end up moving on to another mission, but I will invite her to share what she can and what she learns in the future with the task force," he says with a nod.

"As for the a council to promote inter-house cooperation. I would support such a thing. I would be among the first behind you to offer support for the idea if you wished to seek it. But I do have my doubts as to whether other houses would be similarly inclined. I will support you, if you propose it though. The worst that could happen is nothing happens."

"I hope they are receptive. They were both extremely helpful to me this past week.

If the Queen is receptive, I think you will be surprised by how many Houses would be open to gaining the benefits of others' knowledge and experience. The biggest names that clash are fully self sufficient and likely too proud to admit there is something they could gain, but they will participate to show they aren't opposed to unity and cooperation. And you are quite right. I have found that fear of failure holds more back than any actual consequences, it is one of the first things I drill...one of the first things I used to drill out of my troopers."

[Zeno Thul]

"We shall see what happens. Regardless of how it is taken, or if people join, I see no reason there should not be cooperation between Thul and Teraan. If the council becomes reality, it becomes a moot point, but if not I would suggest, mutual personal tours of each other's estates and facilities. And would also insist that you attend dinner with my wife and I sometime soon."

[Jocasta Teraan]

"We shall see what happens. Regardless of how it is taken, or if people join, I see no reason there should not be cooperation between Thul and Teraan. If the council becomes reality, it becomes a moot point, but if not I would suggest, mutual personal tours of each other's estates and facilities. And would also insist that you attend dinner with my wife and I sometime soon."

Jocasta bows her head, "I would be honored to dine with you and the Duchess. Our thrantas may not be as impressive as those in the royal stable, but the views of the Alsakan Lowlands from the skies are breathtaking. If you have had a chance to acquaint yourself with Prince Aurilie, House Alde are our neighbors to the East in the Juran Mountains."