The Games People Play

I do not play the Game. I know something of the movement of the pieces. Most men do. I suppose it might have made sense to learn more than the mechanics of the Game. I have traveled much of the world and, in most places, the Game is played. There are variations, of course, which are mostly regional. For example, in Torvaldsland, the Skald is a piece on the board where in most places the Scribe occupies his square. In some cities, depending upon their prejudices and preconceptions, the standard pieces move differently. I imagine the tarnsmen in the camps of the Warriors of Treve have more power relative to Spearmen and the Riders of High Tharlarion. I cannot say that for certain, of course, it is just my own speculation.
When Gaius Claudius showed up at my end of the Anbar, gift in hand, it was natural to speculate. Why would he wish to give me a Player's board? He has made himself a proprietor in my District recently. No sooner than he does so, arson and murder come to the Anbar. There are coincidences and there are correlations. It is difficult not to correlate these events. I do not mean to paint the district as a kind and gentle place to take up residence. There is crime here and there are criminals. There are gangs of thugs and puppeteers pulling their strings. However, there is one unavoidable truth about such places and it holds true for the Anbar. Where there are criminals, where they live, where they congregate, there is little crime. When someone is foolish enough to kill someone of note in this district, when someone chooses to endanger the enterprise of others by starting fires, they will be dealt with.
Past the speculation about coincidence and correlation, my personal ethics make it unacceptable to accept such a gift, lovely as it was. As an elected official, I must be concerned with such things as fact and appearance. That is, the facts behind my behavior and the appearance of it. Simply put, it would not 'look good' to be accepting gifts from a man of high caste who endeavors to enter into companionship with a woman that was recently implicated in the death of an Anbar resident. The inability to prove her guilt notwithstanding changes nothing because, as I have said, what the facts are and what they appear to be are both important notions to consider.
After the attempt to bestow a gift upon me, Claudius wished me to know that he intends to petition the city to increase the number of guardsman patrolling the Anbar District. I do not take issue with that, but I do not know that the city will answer his request favorably either. It is possible. He left his gift on the front stoop of the Boarding House when he departed, well wishes in his ostentatious wake. For the record, the gift remains in the Anbar, but not in my possession. I am unable to accept such lavishments, lest they be seen as inducement.