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DOMANI [SETTING: Ishamael's office as Acting CEO of the Darkfriends, in the absence of the Chairman of the Board, Mister Great Lord of the Dark himself! (His friends call him "Great Lord" for short). Or at least, this is the T'A'R manifestation of that office, since Ishy is still bound in the flesh for the time being.] [The Bandar Eban Station Chief suddenly appears in the room. Not surprisingly, she is tall and willowy, with copper-toned skin and long dark hair. She is wearing a very thin, clinging dress which technically covers her body (high neckline, and all that) but is tight enough that it doesn't exactly leave much to the imagination. In other words, she looks dead average by Domani standards (granted, their standards are downright PECULIAR!).] ISHAMAEL: Welcome! How goes the Great Work in your homeland? DOMANI [sliding gracefully into Curtsey #413, the one which a properly educated young woman gives to a person who is of the opposite sex AND is clearly OLDER than you are AND is known to be your your direct superior in an organization (as opposed to merely "outranking" you in the sense that any nobleman outranks any commoner who is not actually living on the noble's lands) AND this person seems reasonably attractive to you (or so you want him to think) even though you already know that he has far better things to do than flirt with you, much less get involved in anything SERIOUS, but of course (the precise angle of the bend of the head suggests) you can't help HOPING that something romantic just might come of this meeting, if you play your cards right! That is the GENERAL impression which the body language of Curtsey #413 is meant to convey to any observer, although of course it would take considerably longer to discuss all the SUBTLE things which clearly set it apart from such closely related poses as Numbers 411, 412, 414, 415(a), 415(b), and 415(c) . . . um, where was I again? Oh yes, I was originally going to have the closing brackets of this "stage direction" be immediately followed by the transcript of what Domani actually SAID verbally as she was performing this curtsey, a work of art in its own right, but this description has already gone on so long that I think I'll say 'heck with it!' and give the actual speech its own paragraph. Stay tuned!] DOMANI: Great Lord, it is a GREAT pleasure to finally see you personally! [Her voice does all sorts of interesting things with the words "pleasure" and then "personally", as the result of long practice.] ISHAMAEL [Very matter-of-fact, he's acting as a drama critic here]: Isn't that a trifle repetitious? Using the adjective "great" twice in one sentence? Wouldn't it be better to vary it by saying "a true pleasure", or even use a bit of alliteration instead and say "a profound pleasure"? DOMANI [looking SLIGHTLY embarrassed for half a heartbeat, before regaining her composure and putting on her best wide-eyed, eager-to-learn, and very-impressed-by-the-nice-man's-wisdom expression! That would be Facial Expression 136 in her manual of women's wiles that she studied under her mother's tutelage]: Of course you are correct, Great Lord! I fear my youthful inexperience, combined with my unprecedented awe when facing your overwhelming presence, has led my foolish tongue astray! ISHAMAEL [smiling briefly]: A much better performance that time! For a moment I was afraid you might have not paid enough attention to the lessons your dear mother taught you! She was a very useful servant to me, you know. Could wrap the typical man around her little finger with little more than a modest lowering of her eyes and a stroke along his cheek with one fingertip! And if she kissed him . . . well, it was just unbelievable the things most men would do at her bidding in hopes of getting ANOTHER such kiss! DOMANI [looking mildly shocked at the idea]: Oh, of course, I would NEVER venture to kiss a man the first time I met him! But if he seemed nice, and HE happened to kiss ME, I might try to be polite and participate as best I could, just to be . . . sociable! ISHAMAEL [chuckles]: As if any man ever just "happened" to kiss a Domani lass. Usually she's planned out every detail of the operation an hour ahead of time and knows to the split-second when he'll finally work up the nerve to "spontaneously" plant one on her lips. But you can drop the act now, kid; I'm not in the market for what you've got on display. DOMANI [hesitating, looking down on her empty hands]: On display? I'm not carrying anything for the marketplace! [Sounds VERY puzzled and timid]. ISHAMAEL [raising his voice slightly]: You've made your point! You could give any litter of kittens a run for its money in a "cuteness" contest with that wide-eyed innocent look you do so well! Now sit down and drop the act, and let's get to business! [Punctuating his comment, those pesky flames come shooting out of what are theoretically his "eyes" and "mouth" since he's annoyed now.] DOMANI [Hastily seating herself, and from sheer reflex using Method of Collapsing Into a Chair #58, the one indicating a girl has been TOTALLY intimidated by the big, strong, forceful man who just barked at her! However, her tone does become less seductive and more businesslike, allowing for the fact that her soprano voice has a natural musical quality even when she doesn't work at it consciously]: Very well, Great Lord! What do you want to know? ISHAMAEL: Well, I was wondering before you came in if Domani women could still tie men's minds up in knots at will, but I think that question's been settled already. Sure makes me glad I arranged for them to learn the basics of manipulative seductive behaviors, way back when, from some Darkfriend specialists I had in those arts. Glad to see the idea's caught on! How are some of the other programs doing, that you know of? DOMANI: Well, sursa became the official dining implements as of a few generations ago, and now the typical Domani wouldn't be caught dead with a knife or a fork on his dining table (although knives are still used in the kitchen to chop up meat small enough that sursa can be used to eat the pieces)! ISHAMAEL: Excellent! Anything that makes people from other cultures uncomfortable and embarrassed when they enter Arad Doman is likely to be a good thing for me! Makes it more difficult for them to think of Domani as being fundamentally the same as themselves, and contributes to a feeling of alienation instead! Besides, it's so much FUN to watch some poor fool try to manipulate those fragile little sticks for the very first time! Even we villains need a good laugh sometimes, you know! [He gestures for her to continue]. DOMANI: And with every passing generation, more and more of us come to believe that the Great Lord of the Dark (the Dark One, as they call him) is already DEAD and we need not worry anymore! Tarmon Gai'don is just a myth, the Borderlanders have held back the Trollocs for ages and will do so indefinitely, and talk of the Dragon Reborn is probably just a fairy tale! ISHAMAEL [rubbing his hands together with glee]: At last, SOMEONE was dumb enough to fall for that line about the Great Lord of the Dark being DEAD! If only the idea had succeeded elsewhere . . . DOMANI: That's about it, aside from the way we've been squabbling with the Taraboners over the rights to Almoth Plain for the last three centuries or thereabouts, without ever really resolving anything. ISHAMAEL [nods]: Anything that keeps them busy! It's better than having them both decide to divert their armies north to the Borderlands and offer to help with a counteroffensive into the Blight to try to DESTROY Trolloc tribes instead of just resisting them in a continual holding action (which all the Borderlanders will ever be able to do, unassisted!). I've said it before and I'll say it again . . . if the human race ever got smart enough to realize that NON-Humans are the deadly enemy of ALL of them, they might actually be able to inconvenience me! Occasionally, as in the Trolloc Wars, they've BRIEFLY gotten the point . . . but their grandchildren always forget it again and go back to killing each other instead! It ought to be REALLY interesting when the Seanchan and the Whitecloaks march onto the Plain from east and west, and turn it into a four-cornered power struggle! DOMANI [blankly]: Seanchan? ISHAMAEL: Never mind about them. Just remember that in a year or two, when word comes of strange invaders near Falme and perhaps points further south, all the influence of the high-ranking Domani members of our organization should be used to PREVENT the Domani monarch from sending troops south to help the Taraboners. Prevented for as long as possible, that is . . . eventually the invaders will come to your doorstep whether you like it or not! DOMANI [humbly]: Yes, Great Lord. ISHAMAEL [generously]: You must have been your mother's prize pupil, Manon! In a month or two I may have someone for you to use your charms on for real, if you're so eager as you seemed, but in the meantime . . . begone! [He gestures and she disappears]. [NOTES: It has been stated in the books that Domani women have catalogued 1107 types of kiss, and 93 ways to touch a man's face with one hand. I extended the logic to other poses, gestures, etc., but I obviously can't claim to have "invented" the basic idea from scratch. Also, the comments about sursa (or chopsticks, as we call them in the 20th Century) should NOT be taken too seriously. I don't think they are really a tool of the Dark One. But thinking of all the trouble Nyn and Elayne had with the things in TSR, I decided to give Ishamael the credit for designing them. Don't take it personally if you're a chopstick user yourself :) Also, it was necessary for me to invent a name for the Domani Darkfriend, since I don't think we actually the names of any such character in the books. I don't think we've ever had a single scene set in Arad Doman, actually!] |