505-08-15 Drake and Eleanor's Talk
From Crossroads Wiki
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| IC Date: | 15 August 505 |
| Players: | Drake, Princess Eleanor |
| Location: | Chancellor's Office - Gateway University |
A knock upon the door to the office is heard.
There would have been a knight in the hallway that would have checked out anyone that came near the chancellor's office. When the knock is given its another knight that opens the door. He took takes a cursory look before the person is gained entry. Eleanor is sitting at her desk. A water glass in hand. Her other hand is beckoning in welcome.
The dean enters casually, though he does pause to offer a low bow to the Princess. "Your Highness..." he intones. "How can I be of service?" He remains standing, offering a nod to the Knight to accompanied him in, though he says nothing. He is carrying a leather portfolio which is tucked neatly beneath his right arm.
"Good afternoon, Dean. Please come take a seat." Eleanor's gaze falls on him as he loiters by the doorway. "I'd like to speak to you of what happened at the lecture a few days past." Her hand is still extended out to point where it is he can sit if he so chooses. "Thank you, for coming."
The mage makes no comment at first,instead moving forward to lower himself into one of the seats before the polished desk. He leans back slightly, setting his portfolio beside the chair. "Very well. What would you like to discuss, Chancellor?"
"I was curious in knowing why you chose the words you did in the setting that you did?" Eleanor asks gently. "If you had an issue of what was being discussed I wished that you had been able to talk to me first. I do know though how at times like that its hard to reign one's words and wait for a time to speak them."
Drake smiles, though it's not a cheerful one. Rather, it seems rueful. "The man who calls himself a bard is an uneducated fool. He was only there to prove that he could pick holes in the professor's lecture which, incidentally, I wholeheartedly supported. Pyrphoros is a learned man, and he deserves better than to explain himself to a tavern minstrel. All of the man's talk about "the bardic decree"... when I said that I suffer no fools, Highness, I meant it. I respect those of learning, and even those who are not of learning. But fools are easy enough to recognize. As for His Excellency Baron Ethos, I admit to being shocked that he took such an immediate turn against me, when we had but the night before exchanged ideas in a very civil and friendly debate. I expect he simply cannot abide anyone who isn't as blindly religious as he is."
"My dear Dean." El begins. "You are a representation of the University. One of the voices to be found here. You are entitled to your own opinon. But not so in such a public setting as that. In fact I think your words were rather inapporiate."
Drake's eyes narrow slightly, though not at the princess. "Which words, Chancellor? The ones where I pointed out that the Baron was only reminding me of my 'station' to score a blow against me? You all seem to forget that Just a months ago I wasn't a lowly commoner. I was a peer. How quickly the contempt rises when one is no longer part of the elite."
"I am not talking about what your station was before and what it is now." Eleanor says. "I could care less. What I care about is the reputation of the University and what it is that those that work here show. Your comments held contempt for a bard who is one of your co workers and your words also held contempt for someone who believes in Providence. The same Providence that the Emperor gets his power from. That is what concerns me."
Drake looks up at you, then. "Chancellor, *I* believe in Providence as well. I always have. But that is a far cry from the cult of pseudo-morality that Baron Ethos has been driving on this Isle and elsewhere. Since when did the Purists have a monopoly on Providence and Her Will? Not everyone who trusts in Providence is a preacher, or a priest. I fear the purists believe they are both."
Eleanor gives a nod in his direction when he comments. "From where I stand I did not hear the baron imply that he was a preacher or a purist. Yes, the baron and his family pratice Providence perhaps in a way that we all do not understand or do not agree with. There were insults made by the both of you. He reminding you what your station was and you in what his beliefs were. I am trying to point out that there is a time and a place for that. In a main lecture hall that was not apporiate. It was good of you to find a spot and walk away so it would not esculate further. I want to remind you that you are a public figure. Try as you might there are certain things that you will need to reign if you wish to stay here and continue to be a dean. I do not want to hold everyone's hand and tell them what they can and cannot do. But I also have to think of the well being of the University and the people as a whole."
The dean's nod is barely perceptible. "Very well, Chancellor. I will remain silent in public events and lectures, lest I draw the ire of the attendees and bring disrepute upon the University."
"All I am asking is that if you can I need you to show support to the Keeper and Providence." El says quietly. "Because that is something that the University here will not bend on. I am not saying you do not have a right to your opinon or cannot voice them. But your position requires you to make a certain look. If that makes you a hypericrite I apologize for that. But that is something that I cannot bend or tolerate in. I do hope you understand that."
Drake shrugs. "I have already stated, I believe firmly in Providence. Are you saying I must feign agreement with Baron Ethos so that it will appear I support the Keeper and Providence?"
"When you and him are in a public setting together?" El begins, "Than yes. Especially when it is on University grounds. The University needs to show a united front. I appericate all that you have done here thus far. But in the game of politcs sometimes one has to do things they do not want to do. This is one of them."
Drake shakes his head. "I cannot believe what I am hearing. I am forced to fake agreement with another man because he has set himself up as the link between mankind and Providence. Is it not enough that I believe in Providence, that I support the emperor? That I lead a good and decent life? Why is it so necessary for me to publicly agree with Baron Ethos? This, I do not understand, Highness."
"Because." El looks in his direction. "This is something the Emperor would want. The Purists have our support, wholeheartly. If this is something you cannot do it could be seen as treason."
Drake rises from his seat. "Let me get this straight, Chancellor. "You're saying that if I don't -publicly- voice agreement with Baron Ethos of Draught, the Emperor would see this as -treason-? How in the name of all that is sacred did this man amass so much power?!"
"Yes." El says calmly as she watches the Dean get out of seat. "Because he is the voice of Providence. Providence is where the Keeper gets his power. So if that means the Baron of Ethos amass so much power as you state than so be it."
Drake blinks. "You're a Purist yourself, then." He stands there, utterly flabbergasted. "Is this truly what I spent two years missing? Trying to build a relationship between Gateway and the folk of the Ocean? Two years, only to come back and be accused of treason if I do not acknowledge that a baron of Draught is the sole voice of Providence? One wonders why he is a baron at all. Clearly he should be second in power only to the Emperor himself." The mage is beside himself. "Chancellor, I hereby resign my position as Dean of Magic. I will do whatever you ask, as I am a loyal subject of the crown, but I wish to place as much distance as possible between myself and this "institution".
"I have not claimed to be a purist." El says. "But I strongly believe in the way they do." She agrees to that comment. "Very well Master Ravensford. If you cannot abide to what I have stated you may clear your office and go." Looking over to a knight, "A knight will escort you out and make sure that is what you do. Thank you for your time."
Drake bows once more, bends over and snatches up his portfolio from the floor by the chair. He says nothing, simply stalking to the door and leaving it open behind him.
Drake returns to the administration wing.
Drake has left.
