D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad

After investigating the lodgings… Kat found them to be fairly standard. At least, fairly standard for a lot of her Contract work. The room she was assigned was lovely to look at and about twice the size of her bedroom at home. With that being said… Kat was starting to get used to living in pseudo mansions as a guest. Especially while out and about. The only truly notable thing was that the servants quarters were all in the basement… but Hromdir, upon seeing Kat's concerned look informed her it was a heating thing.

Apparently building your house out of ice kept things rather chilly. There was magic to help alleviate this for guests… but in truth the natives of the Holy Wind Sect were all trained to deal with the weather, even those who didn't have any ice affinity. Servant quarters were set underground because it was much warmer down there, and they were not expected to be used to the cold of the standard areas. Hromdir seemed to take great pleasure in pointing out that many foreign servants think they have better accommodations then their masters.

"Why? Why would they set it up this way?" asked Kat, needing no prompting from Lily who was thinking similar thoughts.

"Politics of course," said Hromdir. "If guests complain about something as… seemingly insignificant as the temperature, despite the fact that even the mortal inhabitants of the sect are able to deal with it… it's admitting to a large degree of weakness. Truly, it isn't too hard to get used to with a bit of extra clothing and some more attention paid to how a cultivator reinforces themselves with Qi…

"But for guests who have never been here before and who do not know to avoid mentioning it… the Holy Wind Sect gains a good deal of leverage by answering the call for concessions. Either by supplying heaters or warmer clothes. At ruinous prices of course,"

"Of course," grumbled Kat. "Is it all politics?"

"Of course," said Hromdir with a smile, sending Kat's words back at her. "Cultivators that reach Rank 4 quite regularly stall out, either through lack of talent, lack of resources or both. From there they have exceptionally long lives… and nothing to do really except for hoarding resources, growing a sect to produce resources, or messing with people. All things to keep themselves occupied."

"What is there to occupy ourselves with anyway? I mean, I doubt I'll get a chance because Bodeir will need guarding but I'm curious," Kat paused for a moment… "Wait… I forgot to ask… how was Bodeir able to speak like a person with at least average intelligence just before? No… um… hmm… whatever pick a either question I don't mind,"

"I'll start with the young master then. There is quite a few things to do after all. The young master was of course trained for this sort of thing. It was… painfully slow and the young master doesn't bother to even pretend competence in most situations. We are lucky that many believe his is an intelligent young man that enjoys acting the fool… in truth he just knows a number of pre-written responses that either myself, his father, or some of the other servants supply him with."

"That… that makes an annoying amount of sense. Does it work?" asked Kat with some hesitation.

"It works… well enough…" offered Hromdir. "In truth Bodeir having a short range communication tattoo to supply him answers helps immensely. It is also rather scary to think about just how much time it took Bodeir the elder to get him to this level. Still… despite all of Bodeir's complaints about his son… his son can act. It's underutilised, but with a script and solid direction Bodeir Jr can perform shockingly well,"

"So… what? He's some sort of acting savant?" asked Kat.

"No… not… not really…" offered Hromdir hesitantly. "Bodeir is just… when he wants to, he's able to take instruction quite well and understand what is required for roles with some prompting. He's good at playing the young master because Bodeir the elder has been teaching it to him for decades. He cannot swap roles quickly or with minimal prompting… but with time to explain everything and a good script? He's not so bad,"

"Right…" said Kat slowly, not ready to believe Hromdir was actually explaining everything about Bodeir Jr's talent here. Kat found though… that she just didn't really care. If it was acting talent, a magic spell, or Bodeir Jr's true form… it didn't matter right now and Kat was getting annoyed with the amount of time she spent dedicated to trying to figure it out. "So what is there to do here?"

"Well, skiing is probably the simplest activity, if you are aware of it?" Kat nodded at Hromdir's question, "Good in that case, skiing or snowboarding are quite common. So is using a large board to slide down as a group. Ice skating is known but not really practiced so high up because there are no good lakes to use it and it's not traditional enough a pastime for the sect leaders to invest in it.

"The markets contain a number of rare herbs, as well as finely crafted items. The sect has quite a few cultivation lessons that you likely would not be interested in. Hmm… what else. There are a number of hot springs across the mountain. Some with healing properties, some without. They are used for a variety of things from communal bathing to relaxation to alchemy.

"There is also the public greenhouses, Hamish mentioned them, but they are rather beautiful… though they are also exceptionally busy. Many, many cultivators like to use the open spaces to hold non-confidential meetings, it is also the main date spot for couples, far ahead of following the hiking trail up to the star watching platforms. Then of course the servants like to explore them, not just for the beauty but because of the warmth. It's a very accessible activity," explained Hromdir.

*Do you want to check them out once we've finished our guard shift? I'm sure we can stick around for it.*

[Maybe? I'd rather look at the stars in a nice private place with you. Oh don't get me wrong, the gardens sound nice but I've never been a big fan of crowds and I… I think I'd be a bit too embarrassed to do anything overly romantic in public. If they empty out a bit at night I might be interested, we do have much better night vision after all.]

*Something to keep in mind certainly. The only worry would be if we need to take the boat back with Bodeir at all.*

[Speaking of Bodeir why aren't we guarding him at the moment?]

*I saw Sue sneak into his room shortly after he claimed the master. I do not want to, hear, smell, or even think about what's going on over there at the moment. I'm sure with Sue's barrier they'll be safe enough till I rush over, considering we're just a few rooms away.*

[Right… yeah… I don't want to know either and my nose is a lot more sensitive. I'm guessing I'm going to find out before you do…]

*If that is the case, kindly do NOT inform me, thanks.*

"Are there any events we need to know about before the feast?" asked Kat.

Hromdir gave a light shrug, "It will depend entirely on the whims of the young master,"

*Yeah I was afraid of that answer. Actually wait,* "So… we were told, two days. I'm wondering if today is day one? Or if tomorrow is, seeing as today was more like half a day," asked Kat.

"Today is day one, or so I was led to believe. The feast is set on Friday, with the tournament likely to take the weekend, or a bit longer," said Hromdir.

"And today is… Wednesday?" Kat asked, mostly because she wasn't sure how comparable the week actually was. Hromdir's nod implied, quite comparable to be the answer.

"Ok… soo… would it be possible for me to just relax around the house then? If you could have a servant inform me should Bodeir wish to leave that would be perfect. The sound dampening isn't the best here… so if something goes wrong I should be able to hear it… and other things," finished Kat with a grimace.

"The master bedroom has additional sound dampening enchantments that can be activated," added Hromdir.

"Oh no… I'd… um… rather I didn't have to… you know?" said Kat.

"I can assign one or two of the more… adventurous maids to watch over the enchantment and turn it off at the first sign of trouble?" offered Hromdir.

"Many thanks," said Kat with a sincere tone, and a slight bow.