Personality & The Power of Persuasion

originally posted December 5, 2006

I thought Phineahas and Turianus worked well together. They seem to get on well enough, but they also seem to be natural adversaries. They are by no means oil and water, each is more like the other than either would care to admit, I wager. They do seem to approach the world, however, from different mindsets. The characters, Julian and Agamedes, the mercenary Assassin and classic, duty-bound Warrior, have a genuine dislike, but begrudging respect for one another. While I do not think the actors I have chosen dislike one another, per se, I do think the competitiveness and potential oneupmanship I noted in their banter between lines will serve the production famously.
I have asked the two of them to work out the details of scene four, which occurs without dialogue. It is a scene of conflict, designed to add a touch of physicality to the growing tension in the conversation between the two principals. I have decided to merge scene five with scene four as well, in order to keep the tension ramped up a bit longer before giving the audience a moment to catch their breath. I think the transition should be fluid, lively action seguing into a lively trading of words. I look forward to seeing what the two of them have worked out. I think there is little doubt we can have the rehearsals completed and other details such as the hiring of musicians to score the production in time for a debut some time in the month of Se'Var.

I received a missive yesterday from Mathor. It is the first time I have heard from him directly. As discussed, he booked passage on a barge headed west along the Vosk. Apparently, he is networking, making new friends and acquaintances in the town of Hammerfest. I have little doubt his efforts will be successful. While Mathor is not often verbose, he rarely fails to be persuasive. Of course, his efforts come at a cost.
"It is impossible to know," I said to him some six hands ago, "where is best to begin the search."
"You wish the slave returned?" he asked, confirming my intentions.
"I do," I said.