Log: B'kaiv Gives Testimony
Who: B'kaiv, Visrain (nameless Harper)
When: Day 24, month 11, turn 22 of Interval 10.
Where: Meeting Room, Harper Hall
What: B'kaiv provides testimony about his undercover work and other raider-related things to Lord Boll and an attendant Harper.
This meeting room within the Harper Hall is nothing special, though well appointed with a thickly woven, patterned rug that /almost/ reaches wall to wall, a highly polished oval oak table and chairs that have actual padding beneath their well treated leather upholstery. In the centre of the table, a pitcher of water and an array of cups. The Harper in attendance is an older man of around 48-50 turns, his patience already being tried by the far older Lord who so far keeps insisting on calling him 'my boy' and prefers to stand and peer at the notes being jotted down than sit down. An expected meeting, Visrain certainly doesn't seem to be standing much on protocol, as he just waved the greenrider in when he was shown to this room. "Come in, sit down, have a drink. It's only water, I'm afraid. As if a good brandy is going to addle your mind, hmph." There was some annoying but necessary background: what's your name, your dragon's name, how long have you ridden for Fort, etc. But they do manage to get to the meat of the matter without too much faffing. "So my boy, you've got some information on those raiders for us?"
B'kaiv might be dressed up, but he looks rather like a gorilla in a tuxedo as he tugs at both collar and cuffs. Visrain's crack about the brandy ushers a nervous flick of a smile from the greenrider; he glances uncertainly at the others in the room and accepts a glass of water which he proceeds to clutch at and refuse to set down. There's some confusion about how, precisely, to spell Chielyth's name, but eventually it's decided to reference Fort's records later and move onward - probably encouraged by Kai's fidgeting. "Uh, yeah, sir," he says, eyes flicking from one august personage to the next. "I worked with 'em. Undercover, and all. Couple times."
Visrain, august personage that he may be, still looks far more like someone's slightly addled great-grandfather who got lost than a Lord. Tapping his cane on the floor, then looking vaguely disappointed at the muffled thuds the action produces, he finally retreats from hovering over the Harper's shoulder and totters back to his own seat, marked by the half-drunk cup of water sitting in front of it. "Hm, yes. Can see how they'd be willing to count you as one of theirs," he nods, dark eyes sharper than his demeanor. "Relax lad, relax. Start at the beginning, tell us about the first time you infiltrated their operation. This was under the order of your Weyrleaders, I assume?"
B'kaiv is relaxed! --Or not, but he's not breaking cups out of nerves, so that has to be counted as a win, right? Gladly he shifts to face Visrain, looking rather like a naughty schoolboy brought up before the Harpers. "Uh, yessir. Mean, it were my idea, but I run it past th' Weyrwoman and Weyrleader before I done nothing about it. That were back in. Uh. Shells." He has to think, face twisted. "Turn 20, month 9, I think. When we - Fort, I mean - was looking int' th' tithes as weren't coming from Fort Sea. Didn't go down there until tenth month, and I were there just over a month."
The Harper's pen scritch-scratches away steadily, pausing only for the quill to be dipped into the inkwell. Only the slight furrowing of the man's brows give any indication that he has to think a little to translate. Visrain just nods again, an affable smile on his face despite the general seriousness of such proceedings. "Your initiative. Interesting. Interesting that you chose Fort Sea itself, as well, if I'm understanding you correctly. What was your cover? What did you hope to discover, and what /did/ you discover while you were there? Take your time."
The greenrider glances once or twice toward the Harper and his scritch-scritch-scritch, but must have decided that Visrain is the safest of the lot, for it's the old geezer that Kai directs the bulk of his testimony toward. For the most part it's straightforward, but he has to go back and fill in certain bits until the story is out: the large amount of counterfeit marks at Fort Sea Hold. The large numbers of ships sailing into Fort Sea with tithes that were subsequently shipped off, rather than being sent to the Weyr. Old news, perhaps, but best to be thorough, right? But then, here's news: Rivellan had at least one boat of bully-boys, and they were confident enough to do recruiting straight out of Fort Sea's guard complement.
Neither Visrain or the Harper are looking impatient, and while Lord Boll is providing the bulk of prompting questions in the pursuit of thoroughness, the Harper does occasionally speak up himself. His quill does more than pause, it actually stops for a heartbeat, and the Lord's smile has over time disappeared. "Has he now?" Thump thump goes his cane, though he stays in his chair, his other hand curling around the point of his chin. "And these men attempted to recruit you? Did they give any indication as to what tasks you'd be performing if you joined them?"
Up jerks Kai's chin: yeah. A second later, the man answers vocally, in much the same way. "Yeah, they did. They didn't say straight out, but they weren't looking for no traders. Said Rivellan'd tell them he didn't like somebody, so they'd go out and, you know." He shrugs. "Way I figure, they weren't asking me 'cause they thought I were good with numbers. Said as they wanted someone as knew his way around a blade. Told 'em as I'd think about it, and went back t' Fort - th' Weyr, I mean - a couple days later. Sir."
There's an actual glance exchanged between Lord and Harper, Visrain's mouth turning downward into a disapproving frown. While he's not saying anything, he seems rather unsurprised about that. Pushing up to his feet, he stumps back over to peer at the Harper's notes, an age-spotted hand resting on the other man's shoulder. "Good, good. I see, yes. Make a note, boy, there are some people I think we should talk to. Now," and his sharp gaze is refocused upon the greenrider. "The second time you went in, was this also as a guard, or were you posing as an actual raider this time? When was this?" With a wave of the hand that holds his cane meant to fill in for the other questions that could be inferred from the first round.
B'kaiv almost - almost! - managed to get in a sip of water while nobody was looking at him, but the sudden question causes him to jerk and the water to slop. All down his nice shirt, too. "Uh." He uses the distraction of trying to pat the blodge dry - it doesn't work - to collect his thoughts, and looks back up a few seconds later. "Um, just about a turn later, sir. Same day Nissa - uh, Greenrider Vanissa, Weyrleader T'rev's sister - got took. I seen it happen. Went in as one of th' raiders. You got a map, I can show you all the places we was."
"Easy there, lad," Visrain says kindly, and even limps around to offer B'kaiv the use of his own handkerchief, pulled out of the pocket of the dapper waistcoat that's all but hidden by the thick shawl over his shoulders. Hey, he's old and it's autumn, Fort is frigid! "Did you bring a map, boy?" The Harper is too well trained to roll his eyes, setting his notes aside to shuffle purposefully through some of the other hides and papers he has with him for this interview. "Fort's coverage, Lord Boll," he says as he proffers over the sheet once found. Rather than bothering to prompt for what should be obvious, Visrain waits patiently for Kai to be ready to do what he said he would, and will save any questions about what went on at those locations for the actual showing.
But taking Visrain's hanky means that Kai will have to stop clutching his water glass in both hands! "Uh, no thanks, sir, s'just water." He's about to answer that no, he didn't bring a map when the Harpers produce one, and the next quarter-hour or so passes with the greenrider marking out camps, supply depots, and places they hit. After that, it's details about how the raiders were set up in small groups, the sheer number of firelizards, and how orders only came by the winged beasties. He detours to tell about Nissa's captivity, how the raid caused what remained of his group to be split up, with the greenrider sent to the ships. Then onto marking the coastline for the ship-borne raiders, and coming into contact with Jaeyi's father, from the 'Scudder'. Briefly he goes into his plan to get the older man off the ship, his own subsequent 'drowning', and his recovery at Monaco.
Visrain leaves his hanky on the table, just in case B'kaiv should change his mind at any point, and leans over the table for the duration of maps and explanation. Luckier than the Harper, the Lord doesn't invade the greenrider's personal space, however. That he saves for when he totters over to make sure that all those notes being taken are accurate, even muttering a little as he reads a couple sections aloud to himself. "I'll be having copies of all of this, of course," he says abruptly, the announcement entirely off the map of recent discussion. "This was a very dangerous undertaking," he also adds the obvious, poking his cane towards B'kaiv. Twice. "Was it your intent to locate this--" and he peeks back at the Harper's notes to provide the correct name "--or was that just a happy chance?"
"Kinda... both?" Kai says, leaving untouched just how dangerous it was. "I mean, I were probably th' only way he had of getting outta there alive. We planned on me getting ont' th' boats in th' first place, and when it come time I asked t' go on th' boat we knew he were on. Dunno what we woulda done if I ain't . Dunno how come I got th' letter in th' first place," he adds as an afterthought. "Ain't like me and her is no kind of friends. But he had all this information, and besides, he's th' Weyrleader's, uh, girlfriend's father." The greenrider shrugs: obviously these two reasons were enough.
The Harper seems more interested in that last bit than the Lord, Visrain waving a negligent hand. Yes, yes. /He/ is focusing on business, and business is raiders. "Between your actions and observations, it would seem you were able to procure much that will be useful to our current investigations. Places to look," as he reaches out to tap the map, "and people to question further. You have our thanks, greenrider B'kaiv." The nod that comes from the Harper should hopefully be enough to convey the inclusion of the Hall in that 'our' and not some multiple personality disorder on the part of the Lord. "You'll be available, of course, should we have any further questions we need to ask you?"
B'kaiv tries out a smile on both Harper and Holder, but it ends up tip-tilted and uncertain. "Yes, sir. Actually...," ever so daring, he reaches out a hand to prevent the Harper from trying to tidy up. "I got a couple more things t' say, unless you ain't want t' hear 'em just now. They ain't, strictly speaking, got nothing t' do with me going undercover." With interested nods urging him on, the greenrider manages to actually swallow some water this time before launching into yet another part of the tale. The raid in which M'liam died, but a log-book was recovered that gave more evidence of the raider's habits. Finally, the raid over Peyton in which they discovered yet more counterfeit marks, more firelizards - including the gold - more stolen goods, and Ronari's report that the firelizards all thought of Fort Sea as home.
Somewhere in the midst of that telling, Visrain moved back around to his own chair again -- much to the Harper's silent relief -- and set his cane aside, tucking both hands up under the drape of his shawl. "You've been /very/ busy, my boy," he observes, and it makes the Harper look up questioningly. Apparently he's gotten used to being the one referred to as 'boy.' He lowers his head back to his notes, the scritch-scritching resuming as he notes verbally, "We'll need to secure this log book, look it over ourselves to validate whatever evidence it contains." Lord Boll bobs his head up and down in agreement, but is already moving on, dark eyes becoming keen again. "A connection to those bully boys you mentioned, perhaps?" he muses. "It was her dragon who was able to discover this information?"
B'kaiv has? He shrugs, even so, grimacing at the not-quite-compliment. Maybe it's supposed to be a smile. "Yes, sir. I ain't - I mean, we gave it t' th' Weyrleader, so I dunno where it is now. And yes, sir, that's what they thought. Chielyth didn't hear none of it, but Suraveth - that's Ronari's green - says as she did, and Ronari's th' one as told th' rest of us." As for 'the rest of us' he names quite a few names from the raid, ending up with, "L'sos'd know th' rest of them."
Visrain 'hmms' several times in a row, not quite running the sounds together enough to become an actual hum. "One would think...." he starts, but rather than finish that musing in front of the greenrider he just smiles absently. Never mind the ramblings of an old man. "We'll be certain to gather testimonies from each of these people. Thank you for providing their names. And... L'sos? We should see if he's available while I'm still here." Including both Kai and the Harper, the direction of the statements signified by which one of them he happens to be looking at while speaking. "Have you anything else to add?" That one definitely for B'kaiv.
B'kaiv looks attentive anyway - all those weyrling lectures are good for something after all. "Yessir." No enunciating this time. "And no, sir, that's all. Weyrleader wanted me t' see if I could find no links between all them guards on th' roads and th' raiders, but I couldn't. Just lots of people complaining about it. They didn't get no names, but I got a couple descriptions, and they could be some of th' raiders." He shrugs, and adds, "Don't know for sure, so that ain't nothing t' put in no Harper books."
"It's something to look into," Visrain says, waving a hand importantly at the Harper, though it seems he's jotting it all down regardless. "Again, you have our thanks, dragonrider." The Lord at least, uses that like the honourable title it should be. "If you do think of anything else, I'm sure someone here will be able to take it down for the records." The Harper looks up and nods, adds in some polite and pretty words of his to the effect of being a useful asset to their investigation and a credit to the Weyr. And in direct violation of protocol, Lord Boll will have a hand offered for the shaking, rather than all that bowing and such.
"Yes, sir," the greenrider says again, looking - to be frank - relieved that there are no more coals heaped up for him to be raked over. He has a quarter of a smile for the Harper and sets down his glass, wipes ineffectually at his shirt and looks up again just in time to be attacked by Visrain! --No, have his hand shaken by Visrain, which is more stunning than a fist to the jaw probably would be. "Uh, thank you, sir. --Sir." Shaken-hand or not, Kai'll give half-bows to both Lord and Harper before making his escape, and if he goes straight back to the Den to down a couple shots of whiskey... why, no one will ever have to know.
When: Day 24, month 11, turn 22 of Interval 10.
Where: Meeting Room, Harper Hall
What: B'kaiv provides testimony about his undercover work and other raider-related things to Lord Boll and an attendant Harper.
This meeting room within the Harper Hall is nothing special, though well appointed with a thickly woven, patterned rug that /almost/ reaches wall to wall, a highly polished oval oak table and chairs that have actual padding beneath their well treated leather upholstery. In the centre of the table, a pitcher of water and an array of cups. The Harper in attendance is an older man of around 48-50 turns, his patience already being tried by the far older Lord who so far keeps insisting on calling him 'my boy' and prefers to stand and peer at the notes being jotted down than sit down. An expected meeting, Visrain certainly doesn't seem to be standing much on protocol, as he just waved the greenrider in when he was shown to this room. "Come in, sit down, have a drink. It's only water, I'm afraid. As if a good brandy is going to addle your mind, hmph." There was some annoying but necessary background: what's your name, your dragon's name, how long have you ridden for Fort, etc. But they do manage to get to the meat of the matter without too much faffing. "So my boy, you've got some information on those raiders for us?"
B'kaiv might be dressed up, but he looks rather like a gorilla in a tuxedo as he tugs at both collar and cuffs. Visrain's crack about the brandy ushers a nervous flick of a smile from the greenrider; he glances uncertainly at the others in the room and accepts a glass of water which he proceeds to clutch at and refuse to set down. There's some confusion about how, precisely, to spell Chielyth's name, but eventually it's decided to reference Fort's records later and move onward - probably encouraged by Kai's fidgeting. "Uh, yeah, sir," he says, eyes flicking from one august personage to the next. "I worked with 'em. Undercover, and all. Couple times."
Visrain, august personage that he may be, still looks far more like someone's slightly addled great-grandfather who got lost than a Lord. Tapping his cane on the floor, then looking vaguely disappointed at the muffled thuds the action produces, he finally retreats from hovering over the Harper's shoulder and totters back to his own seat, marked by the half-drunk cup of water sitting in front of it. "Hm, yes. Can see how they'd be willing to count you as one of theirs," he nods, dark eyes sharper than his demeanor. "Relax lad, relax. Start at the beginning, tell us about the first time you infiltrated their operation. This was under the order of your Weyrleaders, I assume?"
B'kaiv is relaxed! --Or not, but he's not breaking cups out of nerves, so that has to be counted as a win, right? Gladly he shifts to face Visrain, looking rather like a naughty schoolboy brought up before the Harpers. "Uh, yessir. Mean, it were my idea, but I run it past th' Weyrwoman and Weyrleader before I done nothing about it. That were back in. Uh. Shells." He has to think, face twisted. "Turn 20, month 9, I think. When we - Fort, I mean - was looking int' th' tithes as weren't coming from Fort Sea. Didn't go down there until tenth month, and I were there just over a month."
The Harper's pen scritch-scratches away steadily, pausing only for the quill to be dipped into the inkwell. Only the slight furrowing of the man's brows give any indication that he has to think a little to translate. Visrain just nods again, an affable smile on his face despite the general seriousness of such proceedings. "Your initiative. Interesting. Interesting that you chose Fort Sea itself, as well, if I'm understanding you correctly. What was your cover? What did you hope to discover, and what /did/ you discover while you were there? Take your time."
The greenrider glances once or twice toward the Harper and his scritch-scritch-scritch, but must have decided that Visrain is the safest of the lot, for it's the old geezer that Kai directs the bulk of his testimony toward. For the most part it's straightforward, but he has to go back and fill in certain bits until the story is out: the large amount of counterfeit marks at Fort Sea Hold. The large numbers of ships sailing into Fort Sea with tithes that were subsequently shipped off, rather than being sent to the Weyr. Old news, perhaps, but best to be thorough, right? But then, here's news: Rivellan had at least one boat of bully-boys, and they were confident enough to do recruiting straight out of Fort Sea's guard complement.
Neither Visrain or the Harper are looking impatient, and while Lord Boll is providing the bulk of prompting questions in the pursuit of thoroughness, the Harper does occasionally speak up himself. His quill does more than pause, it actually stops for a heartbeat, and the Lord's smile has over time disappeared. "Has he now?" Thump thump goes his cane, though he stays in his chair, his other hand curling around the point of his chin. "And these men attempted to recruit you? Did they give any indication as to what tasks you'd be performing if you joined them?"
Up jerks Kai's chin: yeah. A second later, the man answers vocally, in much the same way. "Yeah, they did. They didn't say straight out, but they weren't looking for no traders. Said Rivellan'd tell them he didn't like somebody, so they'd go out and, you know." He shrugs. "Way I figure, they weren't asking me 'cause they thought I were good with numbers. Said as they wanted someone as knew his way around a blade. Told 'em as I'd think about it, and went back t' Fort - th' Weyr, I mean - a couple days later. Sir."
There's an actual glance exchanged between Lord and Harper, Visrain's mouth turning downward into a disapproving frown. While he's not saying anything, he seems rather unsurprised about that. Pushing up to his feet, he stumps back over to peer at the Harper's notes, an age-spotted hand resting on the other man's shoulder. "Good, good. I see, yes. Make a note, boy, there are some people I think we should talk to. Now," and his sharp gaze is refocused upon the greenrider. "The second time you went in, was this also as a guard, or were you posing as an actual raider this time? When was this?" With a wave of the hand that holds his cane meant to fill in for the other questions that could be inferred from the first round.
B'kaiv almost - almost! - managed to get in a sip of water while nobody was looking at him, but the sudden question causes him to jerk and the water to slop. All down his nice shirt, too. "Uh." He uses the distraction of trying to pat the blodge dry - it doesn't work - to collect his thoughts, and looks back up a few seconds later. "Um, just about a turn later, sir. Same day Nissa - uh, Greenrider Vanissa, Weyrleader T'rev's sister - got took. I seen it happen. Went in as one of th' raiders. You got a map, I can show you all the places we was."
"Easy there, lad," Visrain says kindly, and even limps around to offer B'kaiv the use of his own handkerchief, pulled out of the pocket of the dapper waistcoat that's all but hidden by the thick shawl over his shoulders. Hey, he's old and it's autumn, Fort is frigid! "Did you bring a map, boy?" The Harper is too well trained to roll his eyes, setting his notes aside to shuffle purposefully through some of the other hides and papers he has with him for this interview. "Fort's coverage, Lord Boll," he says as he proffers over the sheet once found. Rather than bothering to prompt for what should be obvious, Visrain waits patiently for Kai to be ready to do what he said he would, and will save any questions about what went on at those locations for the actual showing.
But taking Visrain's hanky means that Kai will have to stop clutching his water glass in both hands! "Uh, no thanks, sir, s'just water." He's about to answer that no, he didn't bring a map when the Harpers produce one, and the next quarter-hour or so passes with the greenrider marking out camps, supply depots, and places they hit. After that, it's details about how the raiders were set up in small groups, the sheer number of firelizards, and how orders only came by the winged beasties. He detours to tell about Nissa's captivity, how the raid caused what remained of his group to be split up, with the greenrider sent to the ships. Then onto marking the coastline for the ship-borne raiders, and coming into contact with Jaeyi's father, from the 'Scudder'. Briefly he goes into his plan to get the older man off the ship, his own subsequent 'drowning', and his recovery at Monaco.
Visrain leaves his hanky on the table, just in case B'kaiv should change his mind at any point, and leans over the table for the duration of maps and explanation. Luckier than the Harper, the Lord doesn't invade the greenrider's personal space, however. That he saves for when he totters over to make sure that all those notes being taken are accurate, even muttering a little as he reads a couple sections aloud to himself. "I'll be having copies of all of this, of course," he says abruptly, the announcement entirely off the map of recent discussion. "This was a very dangerous undertaking," he also adds the obvious, poking his cane towards B'kaiv. Twice. "Was it your intent to locate this--" and he peeks back at the Harper's notes to provide the correct name "--or was that just a happy chance?"
"Kinda... both?" Kai says, leaving untouched just how dangerous it was. "I mean, I were probably th' only way he had of getting outta there alive. We planned on me getting ont' th' boats in th' first place, and when it come time I asked t' go on th' boat we knew he were on. Dunno what we woulda done if I ain't . Dunno how come I got th' letter in th' first place," he adds as an afterthought. "Ain't like me and her is no kind of friends. But he had all this information, and besides, he's th' Weyrleader's, uh, girlfriend's father." The greenrider shrugs: obviously these two reasons were enough.
The Harper seems more interested in that last bit than the Lord, Visrain waving a negligent hand. Yes, yes. /He/ is focusing on business, and business is raiders. "Between your actions and observations, it would seem you were able to procure much that will be useful to our current investigations. Places to look," as he reaches out to tap the map, "and people to question further. You have our thanks, greenrider B'kaiv." The nod that comes from the Harper should hopefully be enough to convey the inclusion of the Hall in that 'our' and not some multiple personality disorder on the part of the Lord. "You'll be available, of course, should we have any further questions we need to ask you?"
B'kaiv tries out a smile on both Harper and Holder, but it ends up tip-tilted and uncertain. "Yes, sir. Actually...," ever so daring, he reaches out a hand to prevent the Harper from trying to tidy up. "I got a couple more things t' say, unless you ain't want t' hear 'em just now. They ain't, strictly speaking, got nothing t' do with me going undercover." With interested nods urging him on, the greenrider manages to actually swallow some water this time before launching into yet another part of the tale. The raid in which M'liam died, but a log-book was recovered that gave more evidence of the raider's habits. Finally, the raid over Peyton in which they discovered yet more counterfeit marks, more firelizards - including the gold - more stolen goods, and Ronari's report that the firelizards all thought of Fort Sea as home.
Somewhere in the midst of that telling, Visrain moved back around to his own chair again -- much to the Harper's silent relief -- and set his cane aside, tucking both hands up under the drape of his shawl. "You've been /very/ busy, my boy," he observes, and it makes the Harper look up questioningly. Apparently he's gotten used to being the one referred to as 'boy.' He lowers his head back to his notes, the scritch-scritching resuming as he notes verbally, "We'll need to secure this log book, look it over ourselves to validate whatever evidence it contains." Lord Boll bobs his head up and down in agreement, but is already moving on, dark eyes becoming keen again. "A connection to those bully boys you mentioned, perhaps?" he muses. "It was her dragon who was able to discover this information?"
B'kaiv has? He shrugs, even so, grimacing at the not-quite-compliment. Maybe it's supposed to be a smile. "Yes, sir. I ain't - I mean, we gave it t' th' Weyrleader, so I dunno where it is now. And yes, sir, that's what they thought. Chielyth didn't hear none of it, but Suraveth - that's Ronari's green - says as she did, and Ronari's th' one as told th' rest of us." As for 'the rest of us' he names quite a few names from the raid, ending up with, "L'sos'd know th' rest of them."
Visrain 'hmms' several times in a row, not quite running the sounds together enough to become an actual hum. "One would think...." he starts, but rather than finish that musing in front of the greenrider he just smiles absently. Never mind the ramblings of an old man. "We'll be certain to gather testimonies from each of these people. Thank you for providing their names. And... L'sos? We should see if he's available while I'm still here." Including both Kai and the Harper, the direction of the statements signified by which one of them he happens to be looking at while speaking. "Have you anything else to add?" That one definitely for B'kaiv.
B'kaiv looks attentive anyway - all those weyrling lectures are good for something after all. "Yessir." No enunciating this time. "And no, sir, that's all. Weyrleader wanted me t' see if I could find no links between all them guards on th' roads and th' raiders, but I couldn't. Just lots of people complaining about it. They didn't get no names, but I got a couple descriptions, and they could be some of th' raiders." He shrugs, and adds, "Don't know for sure, so that ain't nothing t' put in no Harper books."
"It's something to look into," Visrain says, waving a hand importantly at the Harper, though it seems he's jotting it all down regardless. "Again, you have our thanks, dragonrider." The Lord at least, uses that like the honourable title it should be. "If you do think of anything else, I'm sure someone here will be able to take it down for the records." The Harper looks up and nods, adds in some polite and pretty words of his to the effect of being a useful asset to their investigation and a credit to the Weyr. And in direct violation of protocol, Lord Boll will have a hand offered for the shaking, rather than all that bowing and such.
"Yes, sir," the greenrider says again, looking - to be frank - relieved that there are no more coals heaped up for him to be raked over. He has a quarter of a smile for the Harper and sets down his glass, wipes ineffectually at his shirt and looks up again just in time to be attacked by Visrain! --No, have his hand shaken by Visrain, which is more stunning than a fist to the jaw probably would be. "Uh, thank you, sir. --Sir." Shaken-hand or not, Kai'll give half-bows to both Lord and Harper before making his escape, and if he goes straight back to the Den to down a couple shots of whiskey... why, no one will ever have to know.