Around a wilderness campfire, after leaving the Copper Hills Fort, Lucius “Of Sutheron” slips out of his Sutheroni accent, and starts to speak.
“Well then, I clearly need some help at being from Sutheron… rather than have a noble name, which seems… complicated…. I’m thinking I’m a young bravo out to prove himself, perhaps my mother was a Westlander slave, and I am the bastard of a noble, or perhaps my mother was a Sutheroni woman of the night, and my father was a Westlands horse-trader… Something that will be understandable and also… not worth talking about?”
“What do you think will be the most… sellable? believable? At least to Aegierians?”
“Lucius” looks around at his companions, waiting for them to respond…
Smiling, Alexis responds “Perhaps you should wear a cloak with a deep hood. Only hang out in the shadows. If questioned, just use your most ominous voice and say ‘who I am is unimportant’.”
“You try so hard, but our nature is imprinted on the fabric of the world; the weave; reality.” Alexis continues to smile good-naturedly and shrugs.
“But if you won’t be deterred in your ‘quest’, choose a servant. Nobody cares about servants. Or claim to be a servant of Hood. Then nobody will bother you… except Hood’s assassins. Or finally embrace Ath’, the often-overlooked, and I’m sure you’ll get some help there.”
At first Telosh smiles as Alexis talks, nearly chuckling at the “ominous voice” comment.
As Alexis mentions the weave, then servants, Hood, and finally A’th, Telosh grows a bit more serious, nodding at first, and then at the end, smiling broadly, and laughing.
“Hahahaha! Thank you for that perspective Alexis, it is very… helpful, and very much in line with the weave of your cloak. At you service it is, Master Laelius.”
Telosh looks to Ethelred and Gus, “Any thoughts, Aegierians?”
“Hmmm…. I think mostly forgettable would be a lifter. Someone who moves weighty items from one place to another. Could be in the docks, or the warehouses near the docks. Your father was a lifter. Your mother a weaver of cloth.
Regardless of what you or your parents are, what lows or highs your place in society is. Remember one thing about all Sutheroni’s… They all think they are better than peoples from any other land. Always a bit of a lifted nose and pinky. The shit movers don’t need to clean off when they get home because no Sutheroni’s shit stinks. The lowest of the low Sutheroni think they would be princes in the Westlands. Remember that and people you meet will have no doubt a Sutheroni is in their midst.”
Telosh smiles broadly and nods in agreement, glancing side long at Alexis briefly.
“Thank you Gustav! Those are excellent suggestions and will truly help me stay in character,” returning to a proud Sutheroni accent, he continues while nodding. “Lucius the Lifter, my father was a lifter, my mother a weaver of cloth, humble servant of the Esteemed Alexis Laelius…”
‘Lucius’s’ posture shifts back to a certain haughtiness, and he looks to Ethelred to see if the more urbane Aegerian has any reaction.