2952/Court of Owls: Bloodlines - Prologue

Court of Owls: Bloodlines - Prologue
Date of Scene:	16 August 2020
Location:	Family Wing - Wayne Manor
Synopsis:	Damian Wayne gets a bit of a family history lesson...and a dangerous set of marching orders...from his father.
Cast of Characters:	Bruce Wayne, Damian Wayne

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Bruce Wayne has posed:
It may have been a bit of an adjustment for Damian Wayne, to be spending as much time home now that the exclusive Private School he attends has been on summer break. It is, in truth, the most amount of time he's had to spend with his Father since knowledge of his existence has been known to him. To say that Bruce is an inattentive "new" father would not technically be correct. Bruce is very much a presence in Damian's day-to-day life. Alfred is of course, a steadfast pillar of support while Bruce stumbles through unexpected fatherhood, but while the emotional aspects of fatherhood may be difficult for Bruce, he has been a tireless teacher if nothing else. Damian may have, in many ways, come "pre-packaged" as a vigilante, but there are a great many things that the League of Assassins doesn't see the need to teach its' scions, and it has been those areas that Bruce has focused on...largely in the same vein as the other Robins. Bruce is quietly encouraging, but not overly praising. He points out the relatively few mistakes or incorrect conclusions in an even-tempered, matter of fact manner and usually can see the exact point that Damian went awry, turning each into a teachable moment.

But tonight it's time for a different lesson. It's nearly an hour before they will head beneath the Manor to begin their nightly patrol, and Bruce has brought Damian to the quarter the family shares, striding down the hall with the portraits of their ancestors looking down upon them, along with other pictures related to the history of the family and by extension, of Gotham itself.

"I know your Grandfather and Mother likely told you a great deal about the history of the League and your family there. Tales of glorious achievements in the shadows of history. Of a proud legacy." Bruce glances to his son, expression curious, "Or am I mistaken in that?"

Damian Wayne has posed:
     It was indeed a culture shock for the youngest of the Wayne clan. Not only to find out his father was the man that Ra's had praised, but also lived to defy. The one man that had bested the Demon's Head in combat, the man who, as was revealed to him, stole his mother's heart.

  Damian's adjustment to the life of a Robin had been a difficult one, and of course the young man had decided to live with Bruce for now. To learn about his father, and even then there had been a speckle of light in the dark that Damian had been born into. He was not like any other Robin, and that suited him.

  The two had walked down the hallway, as he looked at all of the portraits. Even if he was a petulant boy, he was still his father's son, an immaculate student. "Yes, Mother showed me the places where Grandfather had fought in battles over the years. The things no one but his progeny knew about. He had heard so many stories, and seen all these places, but more than that, his mother had forced him to do many challenges that would temper him into the perfect heir to the League of Assassins. Many of them were brutal, as Alfred and Bruce had seen before, whilst Damian trained, or while stitching him up. His body had scars to show, much more than a then fourteen year old boy should have had.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
Bruce nods, pausing in front of the portrait of the burning ships, linked to the sword given to Damian just days ago.

"This business with the Court of Owls. It's not like most of the adversaries we deal with. Oh, certainly there are the currents of dirty money and criminal undertakings that hold it all up...but thats incidental to what the Court is really all about. Which is legacy. Something one of the Talons said implied that he had killed Waynes before. And by the tone I doubt it's only been one that the Court considered enough of an impediment to eliminate. So far...there's only one that I can trace to being killed by the court with real certainty but..." He shakes his head, "That's not really why we're here. Legacy."

Bruce gestures to the portrait, "Darius Wayne may have been the first Wayne to fight for Gotham, but he was far from the last. The League may have a longer history, and a more overtly martial one, but your other family has its' own legacy...and that's going to be something I need you to remember in the weeks, possibly months to come."

Damian Wayne has posed:
     Damian's face looks around as Bruce speaks of Darius Wayne, and the others. He remembered that sword he was gifted on his birthday, the one that he had placed in the high place of honor amongst his collection. "Which Wayne was taken by the Court?" He asked, keeping the information in his mind.

  "There's something you are not telling me, Father. What have you found out?" He asserted that he should know as much as possible in these situations. He'd been developing a deeper understanding of the Waynes, especially after the revelation of Darius' feats in what would become Gotham Harbor.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
"Alan Wayne was almost certainly killed by the Court. His death was originally labelled a dementia-induced accident, but towards the end of his life he became extremely paranoid and spoke often of "Owls." The public record says he fell into an open manhole and drowned. Not exactly dignified. I exhumed his body and found traces on his bones of a vast number of cuts. He didn't drown. He was tortured to death with the literal thousand cuts." Bruce pauses and notes, "Alan Wayne would have been the patriarch of the family when much of post-industrial Gotham was being built. Along with Edward Elliot and Theodore Cobblepot, he commissioned much of the historic buildings...at least those that weren't commissioned by his father, Solomon Wayne, and designed by the architect Cyrus Pinkney. All taken together they're the reason Gotham has its'...particular character, architecturally speaking."

Bruce glances to Damian and nods, "There is. I believe the Court is going to come to you. They will divide us, and they will try to win you to their cause. They will offer you power. They will promise a place of high prestige in their ranks. They will suggest things that will...possibly sound quite sensible to you...that will hearken to the lessons the League taught you. That might makes right. That lives taken in the pursuit of a higher cause are but a means to an end. They will tell you that only they can heal this city."

Bruce looks to Damian now, his expression grave, "And when they do...I want you to listen to every word they say...and I want you to say yes."

Damian Wayne has posed:
     "The Art Deco Gothic look..." Damian commented, it was true, Gotham had a flair for looking quite distinct.

  Continuing to Alan Wayne's death by a thousand cuts, he'd known of the torture before, even to Damian, it was an especially brutal end of a life. He was taught torture, he was taught how to be ruthless, but an assassin was to dispatch their target in a more subtle way. Most of the time, it was to look like natural causes or an accident. If someone died by an Assassin's hand and it was known, there was a reason for it.

  Damian's eyes grew wide for a moment, then they closed slightly. "I think I know what you are wanting..." Damian's hand raised to gesture. "If I am to be a double agent...then I will have to do what is necessary to make them believe." He lowered his head slightly as he looked straight to Bruce's blue eyes. "Are you prepared for that?" Yes, he means exactly that, he will have to be a killer again.

  "They will have to believe that Ibn al Xu'ffasch is working with them."

Bruce Wayne has posed:
"Thankfully in this case I believe the Court's subtlety and patience can be used against them." Bruce replies, "I don't want you crossing that line...not against anything other than the Talons themselves...but you can play hard-to-get. Be skeptical. Be reluctant. Let them, pardon the expression...court you. But if they put you in a position where you have to take a life...or you have to stand by as an innocent life is taken...then we will have to find another way. But I do not believe the Court will press you that hard right away. But just so we're clear...while gathering intelligence is certainly something we want, my ultimate intention is for you to be our secret weapon when the war begins in earnest." Now, in the letter of the words rather than perhaps the spirit, there is a loophole there where "innocent" lives are concerned....

Damian Wayne has posed:
     Damian's eyes narrowed again. Hopefully Bruce was right, he wasn't keen on being knee deep in enemy territory and not able to get himself out of it. At least, there was something he could use to his advantage. "Very well, Father." He says, even if there was a conflict there, he was trying to take being a Robin seriously. At least, his interpretation of being a Robin.

  "I will be on the lookout for owls then."

  The youngest Wayne took a look at the painting of Darius Wayne's triumph. "Hopefully Gotham will not have to burn, so that it can be returned to glory."

Bruce Wayne has posed:
"Hopefully not. I'm not a big believer in platitudes, but they do say it's always darkest before the dawn." Bruce replies, briefly placing a hand on Damian's shoulder, "I want you to know that I wouldn't ask you to do this if I did not trust you could accomplish it. Whatever you were before, you're a protector of Gotham, and even the world, now. It is a constant challenge and a heavy burden..." He gestures, vaguely indicating the long line of portraits along either side of the wide hall, "But in a way, it's the responsibility that comes with the Wayne name. Which isn't to say ALL of our forefathers have been noble and strong...but whatever their failings, they all served Gotham in their own way."

He looks a bit bemused for a moment, "We've just...expanded that mandate a bit with this last generation or so."

Damian Wayne has posed:
Damian looked down at his own feet as Bruce spoke, he never told Bruce about the Year of Blood, about the terrible things that he had to do in the League. Amongst them, the real reason that Goliath was the last Bat-Dragon in the world.

  The show of faith was moving, he'd been used to challenges, but in the most destructive way. Strict, and without much compassion. Even this showing of faith was so much more than anything he had been shown. He finally looked up, his green eyes almost glowing from the ambient light. "I will do well by our ancestors." He said, meaning it wholeheartedly. "I am a Wayne."

Bruce Wayne has posed:
Bruce smiles. It's not the glitzy "winning smile" he wears when he has to be the playboy. It is, however, genuine. "Yes, you are. No matter what." He gives Damian's shoulder a brief squeeze, and then releases it with an affirming nod. The smile schools to something more serious, "Now let's go get something to eat and suit up. We're on the Narrows tonight."