Fwurg

[Corinna de Beyza]

A woman quickly walks into the embassy of the Hiocan Society on Unity. Even though she seems to be gasping for breath, she tries to smooth out the ruffles in her white dress. Her ears betray her race: sundarian.

Once she caught her breath, she looks around in the embassy foyer. She is clearly searching for something. After staring around for half a minute, she gave up and walked towards the nearest Hiocan behind a desk.

"Hello", she started in galactic basic, "My name is Corinna de Beyza, and I am a slave. I seek asylum, can you point me to where I should be?"

((OOC: I have no clue what the Hiocan Embassy looks like, or where it is. So grab this chance to give it some description ^_^))

[Hiocan Society]

The Hiocan embassy is on the third floor of the embassy building. It is not one of the popular spots but it had all the facilities and space needed for the Hicoan Society. The Hiocan Embassy is simple but elegant. The entry room has one desk with a secretary behind it and there some chairs against the wall. On the order side are some stands with folders and a sitting area with coffee/thee and cookies next to the window. In the middle side is an arch which leads to a hall with various doors. Some abstract Hiocan art is hanging on the wall and some statues and plants are standing in the room. Behind the desk there seems to be some office room. The secretary looks curious to the visitor who seems to have hurried into the foyer. After catching her breach she walks towards the desk and she answer with a smile to the new guest as to comfort her.

“Welcome to the Hiocan Society Embassy. I will arrange a meeting for you with the counselor. She will help you with making the necessary arrangements. In the mean time please fill in this application form and here is an information folder. You can take some coffee/tea and cookies in the sitting area. If you have any question please save them for the counselor she is the expert.”

The secretary took the application form and folder from a drawer in the desk quite far down. It seems that not many slaves come here. In the sitting areas where seat of various height and comfort so you could chose. There were various sorts of coffee/the and cookies so everybody could find something towards their taste.

Asylum application form for ex-slaves

Name:

Day of birth:

Place of birth:

Race:

Nationality:

Name ex-owner:

Nationality ex-owner:

Race ex-owner:

Your Skills:


Tasks you needed to perform:


Reason for leaving:



Date:

Signature:

The application form is quite plain and simple and seems more of a registration form. The folder contained more extended information. In the introduction the situation is explained from the ex-slave and Hiocan Society point of view as to establish the situation and call down the reader. Then there is an index page; first part is the asylum procedure and second part is information about the Hiocan Society. There is an extended explanation of the asylum procedure and the various phases. First there is the registration and a general interview, after that follow an psychological and physical investigation. This requires full cooperation (any rejection will be taken as negative points) as to determine the state of the ex-slave so they can be helped correctly later. During the procedure housing, food, clothing etc. are provided. When investigations are finished the asylum will be granted or denied. The second part of the folder contains general information about the Hiocan Society; map of the system, history, culture, politics and daily live.

As Corinna de Beyza goes to the sitting corner she sees the secretary making some calls.

[Corinna de Beyza]

Corinna sat down, and first read the folder to see what she could expect. Then she carefully looked over the whole form before filling anything.

She then picked up the pen, tested it on the side of the form, and started filling in the form. She was clearly not used to writing on paper, though her handwriting was very legible, as writing on datapads or other digital surfaces was common. When she finished filling in the form, she looked it over once more, and signed it in a single fluid motion.

Asylum application form for ex-slaves

Name: Corinna de Beyza, Baroness of Serron

Day of birth: 1987-06-09

Place of birth: Serron

Race: Sundarian

Nationality: Sundarian, or maybe Veolian

Name ex-owner: Taraha Sajjan

Nationality ex-owner: Veolian

Race ex-owner: Hemet Veolian

Your Skills:
Masters degree in Intergalactic Business, Bachelors degree in Business Management. Four years of experience with managing an Sundarian import/export business, three years of experience with veolian domestic negotiations for the acquisitions department of an intergalactic import/export business. Experienced dancer, runner-up at the eleventh Agon National Dance Gala on Glasslyn.


Tasks you needed to perform:
Management of the acquisitions department of Tahara Imports: Overseeing the work of around 500 employees, negotiating large-volume deals on behalf of my owner, Lord Tahara. Entertaining lord Tahara and business guests with dance. Entertaining lord Tahara and lady Tahara with intimate activities. Taking classes in business management, negotiations and economics at multiple Veolian universities.


Reason for leaving:
Lord Tahara considers selling me because he received a very lucrative offer. But my prospective new owner, Lady Dava, does not seem interested in employing me in any capacity but entertainment.


Date: 2013-02-03

Signature:

She then walked back to the secretary.

"You must really love to help out slaves, if you have them write on actual paper...", she said while handing over the filled in form. Out of curiosity she asked: "Could I have a copy of that form?"

She patiently waited to see how the secretary was going to copy a non-digital document. She was aware that paper was extremely expensive, as it required a lot of effort to make, and in her years she had only twice seen paper used.

[Hiocan Society]

The secretary takes the form and looks at it.

“Thank you Baroness de Beyza. Not all slaves are as highly educated as yourselves. Some of the Mandorian slaves can barely read and write, so that is why we keep the form low tech. Furthermore paper is part of our culture. Writing and calligraphy are held in high esteem as it shows the skill and effort a person has put into it. We have various cards, charms and also hardcover books.”

The secretary put the form on some kind of scanner and pushes a few buttons of the console. She seems to check if the document has been correctly digitalized and files it manual and digital. She makes a paper copy for Corinna de Beyza and hands it to her.

“Counselor T’kara is busy at the moment and I have made an appointment for you after dinner. I have also arranged a room for your stay within the embassy. Are there any further requests or questions with which I can help you?”

A clerk appeared from the hall ready to guide Corinna de Beyza.

[Corinna de Beyza]

After accepting the copy, Corinna looked at the secretary with a confused expression. "But if they can barely read and write, wouldn't it be easier for them if you just have a protocol droid take the interview? Writing on paper requires much practice, while everyone is capable of speaking to a droid. Ah well. I don't think Mandalorian slaves can get here anyway, I'm just here because my owner had business on Unity."

Corinna followed the clerk to her room. She waited patiently until she could meet Counselor T'kara.

[Hiocan Society]

The clerk leads Corinna through the hall. There are various offices and meeting rooms. It opens then up in a central room with a cafeteria and a lounge area. From here you could to the various departments of the embassy. Also the security seems to increase as to go further you need an access card. The clerk used his card to get them into the guest rooms’ area. The foyer looks like a hotel reception. But the clerk just continues to move on. The hallway is decorated with all kind of painting and mosaics with what seemed to be art styles of various cultures. The clerk stops in front of a red and yellow circled door with number 23 on it. He hold another keycard for the door and tt opens up towards a spacious room. There is a desk with console, a big bed, a wardrobe (with home general humanoid women cloths), a bathroom with shower and two comfortable chairs and a table.

“Miss de Beyza this is your guest room. Here is your keycard. You are free to move in the guest room area and the cafeteria. For dinner you can order a la cart for room service or go to the cafeteria. Furthermore we have some sport/amusement facilities and you will find more info and a map on the console. You appointment is at seven and I will come and bring you. If you need anything uses the console on the desk to contact us and we will see what we can do for us.”

((OOC: Part 1, if you want to do something a ahead. Otherwise I will continue later and go to the meeting.))

[Corinna de Beyza]

Corinna followed the clerk, and was impressed by the Hiocan embassy. "Thank you", she told the clerk as she accepted the keycard. This place reminded her a lot of the hotels she slept in while on business trips, though the last four years the hotels had become significantly more luxurious.

As she didn't have a concrete plan she decided to take a shower, she would however wear her current clothes. She deliberately picked them because they were attractive yet elegant and they were brand new, courtesy of her owner. She though it a waste to leave them. After showering, she decided to go eat something in the cafeteria. She selected a simple meal, and ate in quiet. Afterwards, she went back to her room, and spent the time reading up on UCN. The interview with the Chancellor was nice, Elrinka's face when the chancellor answered 'Yes' made her laugh.

At ten to seven, she checked her dress and smoothed out her hair, and waited for the clerk to come and fetch her.

((OOC: I don't think you get much space in the senate buildings, though what you currently describe is probably doable. If you want more, you should really get your own embassy building ^_^))

[Hiocan Society]

When Corinna enters the cafeteria she gets some looks. Mostly Hiocans work at the embassy and they do not often receive guest. The menu is quite intergalactic and she found a quite spot to eat alone. After dinner she goes back to her room to shower and relax. Just after she is ready the clerks comes to get her. He leads her to the department of internal affairs and uses his card to get in. Behind the door there are scanners installed who check whether they have weapons. They pass it and the man behind the counter takes a look at the results. “All clear, you can continue.”

They are in a hall with 7 doors, 3 right, 3 left and one at the end. The clerk leads her to the second door to the left. He opens the door so Corinna could enter.

“Miss Corinna de Beyza for you counselor T’Kara.”

The office is about 4 by 4 meters, there are some bookshelves against the wall and some Hiocan landscape paintings. There are two lectus seats, on one of them sits a middle aged woman. She wears orange robes and has a datapad for taking notes.

“Please come in and take a seat miss Corinna de Beyza.

I am counselor T’Kara and I will be handling your request for asylum.”

She waits for Corinna to take a seat and a waits a few second so Corinna could asks questions otherwise T’Kara continues.

“This is a general interview where I would like to get to know you and your situation better so I can make a well-considered decision. As you might have read in the folder, I expect your full cooperation and if you have objections just let me. We can discuss it and find a solution.

Now let’s start miss de Beyza. Could you please tell me the story of your life, from the beginning until now.”

[Corinna de Beyza]

Corinna sat down in the comfortable chair.

She told how she grew up in the barony of Serron. Her father was the baron of the barony, and though his family wasn't rich, he held everything together. When she was 12, exactly a year after he congratulated her with her position as runner-up of the Agon National Dance Gala, her father suddenly died of a disease and her mother never completely dealt with it.

She received private tutoring and finished her Bachelors in Business Management at the age of 17. She enrolled in university at the masters level, and finished her masters in intergalactic business within 2 years at the age of 19.

She received an offer from a prestigious Sundarian import/export firm, and moved out of the Serron barony. There, she rose through the corporate ranks to the position of department head. She maintained this position until her mother died in 2008. With the whole of the Serron barony under her control, she moved back to the family estate and maintained a part-time job with the firm.

Unfortunately, her mother and thus the barony had built up significant debts. Her immediate superior in the nobility was intent on collecting those debts, instead of supporting her. After two years of financial problems and unsupportive allies, she did not know what to do. Through her contacts at her firm, she found a way out: a wealthy veolian noble had had some dealings with the firm, and he was willing to come and talk with her about a possible solution to her financial problems. Lord Tahara offered her a way out. he would pay off all her debtors, if she would consent to become his property and manage the while acquisitions department of his corporation on Mirda.

After a week of thinking and reading up on Veolian culture, she accepted. Lord Tahara filed the necessary paperwork, and her debts disappeared like smoke. She travelled with him to his estates, where she was introduced to his wife, Lady Tahara. After she received her own luxurious house on the Tahara estate she was introduced as the new head of the acquisitions department of Tahara Imports. She remained there for three years.

She negotiated delicate contracts, and entertained guests with dance. Once in a while, lord or lady Tahara would visit her house and spent the night with her. They were always gentle, and always asked her permission for anything they did to her physically. She like her job, she liked to dance, and though she did not expect it, she did not object to the nightly visits either. In contrast with the years before, she finally enjoyed her life.

However, a month ago, Lord Tahara received an offer from Lady Dava to buy her. And Corinna did not want to be bought by her. Though very wealthy, Lady Dava would most likely not employ her in a meaningful job. So she planned to escape.

In the four weeks before her arrival at the embassy, she negotiated contracts in advance so her department could continue running while lord Tahara found a new manager, and she arranged for her last negotiation to be on Unity. After signing the contract, she had her driver bring her to the Hiocan Embassy and paid him to delay her arrival at the hotel for a few hours so no one knew where she was. Then she quickly walked to the embassy.

[Hiocan Society]

Counselor T’kara carefully listens to Corinna’s story. She take notes on her datapad.

“Thank you miss de Beyza for given a short overview of your life. I would now like to go into a few details by asking questions.

First of all, do you have any siblings or other relatives? I would expect that they would have helped you. Second, I have heard that nobility arranges marriages maybe that could have helped you. Could you enlighten me a bit more of your troublesome situation? Giving up your freedom is quite a high price.

Furthermore have you talked to Lord Tahara that you want to stay with him and not go to lady Dava?”

[Corinna de Beyza]

"As far as I know, I have no siblings. Under normal circumstances, my father would have arranged for me to marry another noble of good standing. However, as I told you, he died while I was young. My mother did not manage to arrange a marriage, and to be honest I think she was actively opposed by the family directly above us in rank. I think that they actively prevented my mother from finding a suitable marriage agreement, and actively tried to get the barony indebted to them. Unfortunately, I have no proof of this."

"Had I stayed in the Sundarian Federation, I would most likely have ended up a beggar as my reputation would have been completely destroyed. Counselor, sometimes nobility is like a pack of wolves. They circle you until you are weak, and then they pounce with all their might, effectively wiping you from existence. Since my family had a legitimate claim to the barony, they would have found a way to distance me from that claim in some way. Lord Tahara offered me a way out. A way to leave all financial problems behind and begin a new life without having to care about things like where I would live, or what I would do."

"I have talked to Lady Tahara about this, and she informed me that Lord Tahara seriously considered Lady Dava's offer. She told me that Lady Dava offered an extremely lucrative business agreement with me as part of the compensation."

[Hiocan Society]

“Exploiting others is not a “noble” characteristic. It is very unfortunately what happened to you. I understand why you would go away."

Counselar T’kara waits a moment and swifts her wait in the chair. She is thinking. For Corinna it is understandable to accept the offer of Lord Tahara. But now she wants freedom which was the payment for her to get out of her situation. Thus far lord Tahara had been nice and she had not really felt the weight of the prize she had paid. But now this would change and her new owner would limit the little freedom she still had. This will quite a hard case to judge and will take some time. Better to save up the tough questions for later. First gather all the facts.

“Miss de Beyza could you tell me why you came here? A lot of other factions like the silver forest of Remunzia, the unified republic of Darya and the confederacy of Excaria are against slavery and forbid it in their territory.”

[Corinna de Beyza]

"It seems there is a difference between being against slavery, and offering hospitality to escaped slaves. It is a well known fact that the Hiocan Society offers housing and education to escaped slaves. In all honesty, it wasn't a conscious choice. I went to the embassy closest to where my last meeting was. This happened to be the embassy of the Hiocan Society."

[Hiocan Society]

“Most slaves did not have any decent education so by helping and teaching them they can become valuable members to our society.

Thank you for answering my questions. I think this will be enough from my side today. Tomorrow at 10 the physical examination will take place and in the afternoon at 13 one of the mental examination sessions. Do you have any further questions?”

Counselor T’kara waits for miss de Beyza to answer. But before they finish she has one final question.

“Oh, one final thing miss de Beyza. Lord and Lady Tahara will probably be looking for you and it might not surprise me if they are at the entrance of the embassy now. Do you have a message for them and do you want them to know that you are here? ”

((OOC: I do not want to make full posts to the examinations. Maybe you can give some info and handle some things OOC.))

[Corinna de Beyza]

"I remember reading in the pamphlet about the mental examination... What do you mean with that? I hope it doesn't have to do with telepathy? I know a lot of trade secrets and sensitive things about Lord Tahara's business, and Lord and Lady Tahara. I do not wish someone to read my mind!"

"And you need not worry about Lord and Lady Tahara looking for me. They are not yet aware that I am here -- in fact, they are still on Mirda... I arranged for my last contract signing to be on Mirda, there was no need for Lord Tahara to come with me, it was just a routine signing. Why do you assume that they would be standing at the entrance of the embassy now?"

[Hiocan Society]

“You do not have to worry all the information will be handled confidential. There are two forms of telepathy. There is looking at the mental state of someone from the outside; in some cultures they call this aura watching. And you have the real mental examination where you enter someone’s mind. We are here to help you if we do not force you to anything unless it is absolutely necessary.

Just assuming .. just setting an extreme example to see your reaction. You are indeed very well prepared.”

[Corinna de Beyza]

"So, I have your word that your examiner will not enter my mind?"

[Hiocan Society]

“You do not have to be afraid, it is quite save. Mind reading is not like reading an open book. You do not see everything, only some parts. It requires quite some skills.

If you do not want to, you do not have to. It is a psychological investigation and the needed results can be acquired through various ways. So you can have multiple talk sessions over an extensive period of time if you prefer that.”

[Corinna de Beyza]

"No, that won't be necessary. I was just a little worried. I'm willing to continue with the examinations."

[Hiocan Society]

((OOC: Okay, now comes the real doctors investigation stuff. I am not good at playing psychiatrist or doctor and I do not think it is that interesting to play. So maybe we work this out OOC.))

[Corinna de Beyza]

The further investigation showed that Corinna de Beyza seemed in perfect condition both physically and mentally. Reading her aura showed that she was stressed, but that was to be expected from an escaping slave.

Further talking revealed that she mostly saw her current position as a form of employment, and that she expected her potential new owner to be less accomodating to her personal desires.

[Hiocan Society]

After all the investigation is has become clear that miss de Beyza seems to be perfectly fine.

“ Miss de Beyza, you seem to be in perfect physical and mental health. This is good for you, but leaves us with a problem as we need to have legitimate reasons on which we can grant you asylum.”

Counselor T’kara left a pause.

“You have freely giving up your freedom to be able to work that you like and have a good carefree life. That is quite a luxury which most people do not have. Miss de Beyza you might not have realized it but what you now experience is the weight of the prize you have paid. Up until now Lord Tahara has been so kind that it did not feel as a burden. Do you not stand to your resolution of being a slave instead of becoming poor beggar? ”

Counselor T’kara waits to see miss de Beyza reaction, she looks to her body language and other expressions.

[Corinna de Beyza]

After the counselor's statement, the sundarian sagged in her chair a bit, and her expression seemed crestfallen.

"I thought the Hiocan Society helped slaves... Maybe I should not have come here..."

"Why is me being a slave not enough reason to help me?", she asked.

[Hiocan Society]

“Being a slave is not enough. We do not accept everybody randomly; we do not accept cadgers or criminals. There are criteria that you need to match. Being a slave can be physically and mentally quite demanding and we help them by offering a better place. Unfortunately, you are perfectly fine and live a luxurious live. We can only offer you freedom but no money, so you would not be better off than that you are now. Or do you this differently miss de Beyza? Please tell we why you need help?”

[Corinna de Beyza]

"I don't understand. I have fled to your embassy because I thought the Hiocan Society offered asylum to fleeing slaves. And after a complete interview and examination, you tell me that you have no legitimate reason to grant me asylum. But now you say you can offer me freedom."

Corinna de Beyza stood up.

"Are you, or are you not willing to grant me asylum?", she asked with a confused expression.