Lord Bajazet Al-Nasir approaches Gedeminas with a broad smile. He's dressed very richly, and is wearing what appears to be expensive jewelry. He has a curved scimitar at his hip, with gold and jewels easily visible on the sheath. He holds a goblet of red liquid in one hand, almost casual about it. He notices your glance at it, and says "Oh, do not worry my friend. Allah forbids the drinking of fermented grains or berries. This isn't wine."
But tell me, from up north in Lithuania, I hear you have some strange religions. I've even heard you have a god of death. But, do you like death?
Last edited by Goatkiller666 on Mon Mar 07, 2011 12:44 am, edited 4 times in total.
Gedeminas was sitting and drinking quietly, looking at the other guests, when Al-Nasir approached him. He is dressed in an unusually thick version of the silk clothing many nobles and rich merchants favor, and wears a few rings that provide a subtle hint of wealth.
He looks up as he is addressed, begins to respond, then interrupts himself to cough lightly into a napkin.
He begins again, in Slavic, "We do indeed have a god of death, but we do not 'like' death, or the idea of dying. However, we pray to her to ask for her mercy in extending our lives or on the souls of our departed relatives. Most of us would be quite happy to live a life where praying to her is unnecessary, but even those of us who have managed to attain some wealth spend most of our lives in full awareness of death. We are not as afraid of her as many in these countries are."
[ooc]I personally (RL. not Gedeminas) know nothing at all about the Lithuanian God of Death, and very little about Lithuania, so I just made all of this up, and if it should be changed, I will.[/ooc]
"I believe it is the same among your people? I have heard stories of people known as assassins in your countries, and it is rather surprising to me that there is no god of death in places with such.
"Incidentally, if that is not wine, just what is it? I have not heard of many other drinks of that color."
He looks around again, taking particular note of the conversation Alina is taking part in.
Al-Nasir nods as Gedeminas speak. "We have but one God in my land. Allah is the God of all things, including death. But your people with your false gods, have one devoted just to worshipping the death of others. I hear you do not just pray that your death-god will leave you alone... you actually like the dying... raise it up to an act of worship."
"I can appreciate that belief. My father once said that a truly pious man not only worships Allah during prayers, but chooses to include an aspect of reverence to all parts of his life. Allah made the roads on which we travel, so give thanks unto Him as you take each step. As it is true of a farmer harvesting his fields, or a moneylender counting his coin. All are because of Allah and all should bring praise back to Allah in all ways, great and small."
"For myself, I choose to show my reverence for my God by culling His herds. I help to make His people stronger by removing the weaker ones."
"Ah, I am sorry. An old man likes to ramble on, and you must be bored of this talk." He laughs at his own foolishness.
Gedeminas looks slightly affronted by the description of 'his' God of Death. But when he hears the part about respecting everything, he nods slightly.
"There is a difference between respect and enjoyment. When someone dies, that is a holy experience, as is everything else in their life. The only reason one asks the God of Death to stay away is that the experience of death is the last of the many experience possible, and one wishes to have as much chance to worship the gods as possible. We do indeed worship the god of Death at the death of those close to us, asking him to make their death as enlightening as possible.
"Yet, there are a few heretics who fit the description you used earlier. They see nothing but Death as holy, and attempt to force it on others. The only interesting thing about them is that there are rumors that their few priests are vampires.
"...It might be fun to meet one of those priests, in a situation where I could get away to discover more. I have long enjoyed discovering truths about the world. That is how I choose to serve the Gods."
"Interesting. And I wonder how you would approach your own death, or that of another. Would you die in peace, without fear? Could you kill in tranquility, if there were need?"
Gedeminas raised one of his eyebrows. "This discussion is begining to get a little disturbing. I'm not sure we shouldn't be changing topics.
"...Still, I would not be afraid of my own death. I would not enjoy the idea of no longer being able to learn and teach more, and would fight against dying, but I would not fear it. As for the death of another...
...
...That would depend on what I know of how they act. If I know that they are a murderer who kills innocent people, or if they attack me upon meeting me, I would feel no guilt, except in that I failed to learn why such people exist. For anyone else, I do not believe I could, but it would not be out of fear that I would hold back."
He stops to cought again, then looks up. "I presume that is the sort of actions you meant by 'culling Allah's herds'? I cannot disapprove with what I know so far, but I believe this conversation is at an end."
"And end, you say? Well, then let us begin something else. Call it a game; call it a wager. For the next fifteen minutes, I will wander through this celebration. I will stay within the public rooms. You must approach near enough to have killed me, but without my seeing you. If I see you, you must leave my sight and try again. If you succeed at this, then you have won."
He holds up a finger, "But, if you do not succeed, then I will have five minutes. You may go anywhere you wish, as far as you want. I will approach you within that five minutes, without you detecting me. And when I am close enough to kill you... I will."
He smiles, and gestures to the ornate clock standing against one wall, which shows 10:40pm. "When the clock strikes the eleventh hour, you will die."
Gedeminas looks at him, surprisingly not in disbelief or horror, but with an intruiged expression.
"This 'game' of yours sounds precisely like the type one of the assassins from your land would enjoy. All I meant by saying the conversation was at an end was that I did not want to continue discussing death. If it was with a confirmed assassin, however, the conversation would become far more interesting.
"The wager, unfortunately, is still vastly skewed in your favor. If you are indeed an assassin, as you have just convinced me, you would be specially trained in executing and defending against these hunts. Moreover, I did not hear anything about you retreating should I spot you.
The old man nods at this. "Oh, I have not made myself clear. If you spot me even once, you have won the game, and your life is yours. Still, do not think of it as a wager, so much as your only chance to avoid dying tonight."
Smiling politely, much at odds with the menace in his words, he continues "Your only choice is in how you will face death. Trying to preserve your life, or giving in to the inevitable."
With that, he strolls over to Lady Almanov and Sir Leopold, who are speaking together while gesturing to a servant lady. [This is slightly before the events in Taduz' thread. Feel free to use those events in your own response.]
Gedeminas looks at him in annoyance (still not horror) as he talks. From the moment he mentioned assassins, Gedeminas has had his hand on one of the eating knives. The instant Lord Al-Nasir turns to stroll away, Gedeminas moves to have the knife at his back, fight over the heart. He begins to say "And I am now out of your line of sight, and close enough to kill you," but stops in surprise when Lord Nasir dodges.
[ooc]I don't know how far he would get in his speech before Nasir dodges, and if the dice play out so that he doesn't you can ignore that part, but...[/ooc]
