Maids & Masters Lore Post - Etiquette & Entrapment

I'm aiming for this to be the last lore post for a little while as the next demo gets closer to being playable. Things have been tumultuous enough that I'm not going to make any promises just yet, but I'm hoping it'll be soon.

This is another thing that comes up fairly often in the game, but has a lot of unexplored nuance that would really bog down exposition to explain in a meaningful amount of detail - how Masters treat each other and why it's more or less expected.

This ranges from casual situations all the way up to business negotiations, but with most Masters, the two tend to approach a "casual negotiation" fairly quickly. This all starts with the idea of hospitality.

In simple terms, from start to end, if someone approaches your Estate, unless they're provably hostile, it's expected that the approaching party is to be greeted, then they'll introduce themselves. Once introduced, they'll be invited inside, accept the invitation, be seated somewhere, then offered a drink - typically wine. From there, the visitor will state their intentions and conversation will begin. If it becomes apparent that the conversation will take more than a few hours, the host will offer a meal or a room, perhaps both, depending on how long they feel conversation will take to complete. Once the conversation has been completed, the visitor will see themselves out.

This is the standard sequence of events for all Estates receiving guests, at least in theory. In practice, while the steps are still taken, there is a subtle dance happening both in tandem and behind the scenes, and the intentions of this dance vary wildly depending on the relationship between the Masters and what the visitor is actually trying to accomplish - having their Servants spy on or steal from the Master they're visiting, attempting to confirm a rumor, or even actually establish a new business agreement.

Of course, all of this goes unsaid. If either party's behavior is anything less than civil, it could be grounds for one Master or the other to demand compensation for the sleight, or take more aggressive action. Since both Masters know this, it turns almost everything that Masters say to each other into pretense.

Which brings the whole situation back around to the importance of etiquette, and the offering of a drink. Thanks to the function of Compulsion requiring the subject to imbibe some form of beverage, the first bit of footwork in this dance becomes where the drink comes from. It's not uncommon for a visitor to bring a bottle of wine as thanks for the host's generosity in entertaining them, and whether or not that gift is presented speaks to whether or not the visitor intends to try and use Compulsion to entrap their host. Similar assumptions can be made based on whether the gift is accepted or refused, and whether the gift is opened and used for the customary drinks. Even the simple action of the host having a Servant take the drink elsewhere to be prepared can be seen as an attempt to trick the visitor into believing their gift will be used by switching the bottle out for one the host already has out of sight.

Of course, this standard of etiquette and various methods of entrapment or efforts to mislead have been around for generations at this point. The subtext of what is done and how things are said has become increasingly complex with time, ranging from visitors asking for drinks as a show of confidence to hosts asking what the visitor would like to drink as an alternative to questioning what their visitor actually wants out of the conversation, with even certain types of drink taking on different meanings within subtext. After all, wine can cloud a Master's sensibilities, so tea might be best, but in that case, why are they worried about whether their senses are sharp or dull? Depending on other small pieces of context, it could speak to the severity of the conversation, a request that subtext be disposed of in favor of honesty, or yet another attempt to deceive by falsely indicating severity or honesty.

This can be further complicated - or obscured - by the involvement of Servants. Some Masters are obviously less adept at navigating all of these things left unsaid, and may forget that a Servant represents their Master. That could lead them to believing their host has no ill intentions, only to be led into Compelling themselves after the host's Servant has presented their drink of choice. Similarly, a guest may make their own Servants useful and have them serve the drinks, using the host's wine as a gift to turn the tables back on them. This can also be done entirely out of sight, with the guest's Servants finding their way to the kitchen or wine cellar to switch out the host's bottles for "gifts" so the guest has an advantage unbeknownst to the host.

All of this espionage, both actual and implied, can turn even simple statements like "I don't drink wine" into a much more complex expression with a meaning closer to "can we just talk?"

Of course, Masters being Masters, it's never quite that simple.