The Empire Club/Session 6

Planning for Political/Finale Night
* Themed areas around the room that have decorative elements representing the countries that Amani thinks Aeldrum should build relationships with
*Wants a happy hour in the middle of the room
*Also a bit traditional to represent the legacy of the Empire Club
*Cold invites for their own special corners to:
** Sermaye - they attend, but don't decorate
**Orcish Directorate - ditto
**New Celestial Confederation - they won't come because they don't have a map of Dar'Asmad
** Saldanese - says Dar'Asmad is a backwater & oppressed, and Amani's participating in the oppression of lesser nations. Amani is not delighted. She responds with a copy of a history of the Asmadi Empire that she helped write, in outrageously dated and flowery Aeldman language. Cassie helps craft the cover letter to accompany the book arguing that there are two types of people: those that study and read and those that do. The Empire Club are for those that do.
*Calathans and Percellans come and decorate their own corners 
**Republic of Calath: A photorealistic painting arrives of the signing of the Calathan Constitution (old Dutch masters style) – they signed it with quills, despite it happening 7 years ago
*The food for tonight, make it traditional Aeldrum with flavors from the other nations in attendance (filtered through cultural appropriation) 
**We order some good Orcish & Sermayan food
*Amani will greet people at the door when someone important shows up, otherwise she will be mingling
*Baron Algar Maleth, Minister of Finance arrives exactly 15 minutes late (having timed it on a stopwatch from across the street). He had a very important meeting (with the Chair of the ISCB and its President Emeritus Emiir). 
** Connected by marriage or blood to 5 of the 6 major banks in Aeldrum
**Intelligent, but does not appreciate the sugar crust on the meat of the Asmadi dish. He spits his bite out into his handkerchief and hides it in his coat. Amani is slightly offended, but appreciates his effort to be respectful despite not liking it, and pretends not to notice.
*Dalton Kingsley greets the Calathans with an archaic bow, but where the back of his neck should be exposed, he has fastened his collar to instead cover it
**Lord Izoth, the Ambassador, notices and gives him a "you're a commoner" nod, opening his coat as he does to show that he is armed
*The Ladies who Lunch wander around, not trying the ethnic food
* Baron Maleth is passed off to Mme. Gauthier. Mme. Gautier remembers him, he does not remember her besides that she is part of the "Coalition of Culture". Upon realizing who she is, Baron Maleth makes an excuse about the food not agreeing with him and flees the scene.
*Lord Izoth and Amani chat, Amani recovers from a slight in which she potentially implied that Calath was a "smaller nation" by indicating she instead meant Percel. Lord Izoth tries the Asmadi food and adjusts his expectation of Dar'Asmad's GDP downward. Amani flash her jewelry, and Lord Izoth adjusts his expectation of Dar'Asmad's inequality up.
*Cassie notices Lord Izoth has arrived. She blanches and excuses herself to the basement. She is followed by the Ladies who Lunch. Cassie names the Lord as the cause of her behavior and encourages the Ladies to show the Lord the "welcome" that the Ladies are so famous for. Cassie is then escorted to the basement where she can smoke cigarettes in peace (knowing that the smoke detectors do not work).
* Lord Izoth leads Amani to the painting of his father, where the Ladies are saying very unkind things. Amani complements the work and how it draws the viewer's eyes to Marquis Izoth, Lord Izoth's father.
* Mme. Gauthier looks to mingle with the Sermayans to raise some funds. She glosses over the Ambassador and goes to the Sermayans girlfriend, Augustine Norat (President & CEO of the Sermayan Transportation Conglomerate), who is the real source of wealth. Mme. Gautier tries to recruit Augustine to join the club, and successfully raises her interest in how Gautier's religious views interact with the club's secular history
*Dalton Kingsley meets Agatha, Hortense, & Marie, the Ladies who Lunch, who are all upper-middle-aged and a little young for his tastes. They've heard great things about him (probably from their mothers). They try to pry out of him how he knew Cassandra; she appreciates old things, and so does Kingsley.
*Monsieur LeFine appears and goes to rescue Amani from talking to Lord Izoth more abut the painting. Monsieur LeFine likes the Asmadi food, and goes for seconds. Unfortunately no one else has liked it so far, and he is a commoner. This does not bode well for the type of people that like Asmadi food.
*People are directed towards the seating arrangements. Mme. Gautier is seated next to the Cultural Coalition's whip and several of the NeoCons, presumably at the behest of Cassie Sorothin. Amani's guards head outside as a large crash is heard. 
**Baron "Red Glove" Hathel and Dalton Kingsley go outside to see an Aeldrum State University student protest. Baron Hathel is delighted at this sight, but unfortunately, several late guests are on the other side of the barricade that has been constructed.
***People have the right to protest, so long as they are not violent or deny the right of passage to senior State leaders.
*** Kingsley sends money to have the local food vendors shut down early for the day to try to starve them out, but unfortunately the protestors have brought snacks
* Provoked by Kinglsey, Hathel (outraged by the poor students protesting outside) approaches Baron Maleth, insisting that he address the protestors as a representative of the administration
*Drawing on her deep prior study of fire alarms, Amani instructs Dalton's engineer to tune the fire alarm to the frequency that young people will be able to hear, but no one else (except Elves). The mind singer picks up on this, assuaging the distress of the Elves before turning to the street and amplifying a feeling of fear and distress towards the protestors. A couple of arts students appreciate the artistry of the music they've just heard. The students disperse, complaining about bloody fascists.
*Amani ends the evening with a very persuasive call to join the club. Everyone is very happy (except for the Baron Hathel, who was itching for a fight, and Baron Maleth, who isn't delighted with the amount of attention and drama thus far)
Category:Session Summaries