Book 1 - Chapter 5: Have Sword - Will Travel, or How the West was Fun(dead)

[Asta]

"Dull isn't it?" Maev said taking a long drink from her glass of wine. "They're playing it safe. Politically that is. Half the clans rose to their meager levels of prominence in recent history, so they try to toe the line between supporting the Righ and arousing the ire of Uisdean and allies to his clan. Just because Thuinich isn't in open civil war doesn't mean your family can't be crushed in other ways. Financially, being turned into a social pariah, 'unfortunate accidents'... Though we haven't had one of those in quite a while."

Maev took a beat to pluck some sort of tasty morsel from a nearby plate and pop it into her mouth. After a moment of polite chewing she continued: "The fools don't realize that avoiding enemies, prevents them from making friends."

[pringerbeam]

     "How shocking." Replied Thedrin, hoping to look aghast. "Just how bad is the political situation that such things can happen? What kinds of allies must swear themselves to the MacArtain's side to have cowed the lesser houses to such a degree?"

[Asta]

"Saoirse MacCaibe for one. She controls nearly half the trade in the city, and while I support a woman coming to power, frankly the woman is a vicious bitch and I can't stand her. She's particularly ruthless in matters of business, and I suspect the only reason she hasn't completely driven out her competitors is Bhenneit marshaling what he calls a 'trade union'. That and he's much more personable."

Maev took a sip of wine before continuing: "Regardless, Saoirse has enough financial might that she can put the squeeze on smaller houses outside of Bhenneit's union and that keeps them sufficiently out of the way in any really important matters of state. Naturally, her clan have been in bed with the Macartain's since the beginning and their interests align."

"Uisdean, on the other hand... commands something of a more forceful obedience. It's no secret his clan have been angling to usurp the throne since they lost the war. He's backed financially by the MacCaibe's, and his own clan has been playing the long game for quite some time. Marriages, back room dealing, the occasional 'accident' during a friendly duel or hunting trip; all tools he's more than happy to employ. He lacks dea-chlu, you'd call it 'honor' in the south, but here its something with more nuance. The point being, he has his dirty fingers in a lot of pies and its hard to tell which ones he left shit in."

[pringerbeam]

     ["How..."/b] Thedrin stopped himself from saying barbarous. "Complex... What of the Righ? What clans still show him their support? Surely they must count some allies to their banner?"