2.1 Prelude - The subtle rebellion

Meanwhile, out in the Courtyard...

Fati has gathered Sharae and Rebecca for an impromptu pow-wow of their new visitors.

"Okay, I know Master Lannister told us to make sure the new guests felt welcomed and invited when he mentioned they would be showing up," Fati started, "But I truly hope he has a change of heart and kicks most of them out. I don't know if I can put up with this many new people who are supposed to be 'in charge.' They don't know a thing about us!" The old guard calmed his ire for a moment and waffled a bit, adding "Although I will admit it's nice to see some professionals around again. I would be extremely interested in testing out their guards' prowess against each other to get a feel for their strengths and weaknesses. I fear me and my girls wouldn't hold a candle to them together, although I could still make that big one work a sweat."

"Oh, I know!" Sharae groused. "And did you see? One of the earlier ones even brought his own priest with him! And the white-haired one - is he in league with Shaitan? He looks like he's made an evil pact. He gives me the chills... sometimes I think literally. Much less the six or seven short ones, most of which are currently oohing and ahhing over Noland's forge right now. Oh Fati, whatever will we do?"

"I don't know," Fati grumbled. "But we need to do something. I know you've been assigning maids to help them unpack and at least get all of them situated for the night. Anything suspicious I can bring to Jamie's attention to convince him to give someone the boot?"

"Not yet. But we're looking and paying attention," Rebecca reported. "They've brought a lot of books and writing equipment. A lot like what always cluttered the Lannisters' rooms, although these seem to be written in code, what little we could glance of them. The real question should be, do we do our best at a cool welcome until they choose to leave on their own, or keep an eye on them and their shifty eyes and ears?"

"Now, that's not a bad idea," Fati nodded. "If you put Daniella in charge of their maids..."

"But she doesn't understand any Latin," Sharae stated, confused. Suddenly her face brightened, "Ohh..."

"That's right," added Rebecca. "And if they have the expectation that their maids don't understand them, and then I slip in... I could make sure they're not planning anything nasty to us." She suddenly frowned. "But not Daniella. She's not smart enough to pull this off. She's liable to crawl into bed with that one cute one and let loose all of our plans. She does speak some English, you know..."

"All right then," Fati nodded. "So maybe not the old maid switch. But we're agreed. We keep a close eye on them and what they do for now, and hope we can catch them before it's too late. And we stay as polite as 7 year olds in trouble so Master Lannister has nothing to complain about us. So here's what we're going to do..."

And a "polite", watchful conspiracy is born...

Back inside the Council Bath Chambers...

When we last left our grogs, they were assembled at the stables, giving details of their retinues to Sharae: how many are staying, how many need travel arrangements and temporary accommodations. She notes all of this information on a wax tablet, says she'll try to do her best, but must attend to her other duties.

Cecilia, Celestria and Jeannette de la Champagne quickly find the kitchen. They don't share a single language between them, but they all know their business in the kitchen. The poor harried teenage girl who has spent the last two seasons trying to cook for an entire manorhouse by herself exhales praise to Yaweh and steps aside. What do they do in the kitchen? What will they do when Matron Rebecca Yatrick arrives after her meeting with Sharae and Fati?

One-eyed Maria, Sergeant Molly and Marie the Scout were all expecting to once again prove their worth to a bunch of chauvinist guards....but there aren't any around! Should they stay and guard the luggage? Find that Fati fellow?

Gerard, who had heard quite enough about devils from One-Eyed Maria for the day, decides to go for a walk. Does he invite Augustus and Brigitte along, or do those two wander off on their own? Either way, he finds a plethora of women about the place, but they're all so frazzled! No one seems to have time for idle chatter. On the other hand, many women here would love the help of a big strong man like him to help them with their chores...

Or does he join up with the 5 short guys who look like they just crawled out the hind end of a forest? They seem to have talked Doctor Esteban into joining them for a bath in that small cove behind the Mosque.

First things first, Cecilia will explore it, getting herself to familiarise with it, all the while asking the servant questions about where are the stocks, how many people are to be supplied, and how come there aren't more servants around.

Af for Rebecca Yatrick, to each his own: Rebecca can take care of the maids all she wants, but Cecilia's realm is the kitchen. How course, this won't stop her to engaging the head maid into conversation about... Well, everything.

Well, Marie will ask around who's in charge of the guard around here, and, sooner or later, will find her way to captain Fati. Although ill at ease and on guard with the old man She'll explain her skills to him (second sight, awareness, bows), and ask for a guard duty someplace remote.

How course he does invite them! The more, the merrier!
Of course, language could prove a problem here (he speaks provencal and catalan), but if there ain't any common language between them, he'll just drag them along. Show them the life! There must be something to drink around here, and maybe we can play some dice, huh?
The shores, OTOH... What's up with these women? Can't they relax somewhat? Although Gerard will gladly display his strength should it win him some feminine looks and admiration, there'll quickly be a limit to this. He's good-natured and glad to help, he also likes to be looked at by women, but there's a limit to everything, and that's where things stop being fun and began to be a chore.

And esteban is pretty glad to relax his bones and get some rest.
Aaaaah.... This feels good. You can't begin to imagine how much being old can be a pain. Tell me, you seem to know these magi better than I. Are those stories about their powers real? Can they raise the dead and bring down the sky? Do you think they could restore my youth?

Stocks are not a problem, though there is a lot of rotten fruits and vegetables to be sorted out, and the kitchen hasn't been properly cleaned in ages. After much interlingual frustration, the head count seems to be 10-12 for the high table, maybe 20 for the low table. Plus, there seem to be a small tribe of mummers and dwarves that no one knows what to do with.

More than half the servants went on campaign last summer and didn't come back, leaving 6 servants, plus the 3 new arrivals. Cecilia estimates that with the new arrivals, the manor will need 20 in order to function smoothly. There is also a general concern that there aren't enough people to work the fields, but we should be able to buy our way out of that -- the vineyard runs a healthy surplus.

OOC: Players can RP this out if they choose.

OOC: There's something like an inn by the docks. Players can RP this out if they choose.

Reyes shares Esteban's plight, complaining of the terrible shakes in his hands.

Hector lets slip that they met Viscaria while imprisoned together by dwarves, somewhere north of here. Judging by the reaction of their jailers, she is a power much to be feared, though he himself has only seen her do magic once, when the very stones of their prison bent to her will --impressive, to be sure, but why did she wait nearly a year before winning her freedom?

Even then, the dwarflord was not cowed, but bargained a service in exchange for her freedom. Though, Sophia points out, Viscaria did manage to include their own freedom in the bargain.

Ursula says little, and when she does speak, her stammer makes her nearly incomprehensible.

God help me... What were they all doing? You were a brave lady, but you couldn't do everything by yourself
Cecila will order the maid to sort out the fruits and vegetables. Iddle hands are the devil's work, after all.

With the help of Celestria and Jeannette, she'll then began to clean up the kitchen.
Afterwards, she'll discuss with Rebecca Yatrick about the personnel. Food comes first, at least in her mind, so maybe some of the maids can be diverted to the kitchen, at least part-time. She'll also see with the freshly-back Raoudha so as to hire more help (and yes, this means raoudha will have to ask the magi, unless they give her free rein).

Quite puzzling indeed. Maybe their powers waxe and wane under the power of the stars? That'd sure explain things up, although I'd have expected more power from a magus :-/
Talking to Reyes: But you, my friend, has she ever done some thing to help you? Or even alluded that she could?

Might as well post what my grogs are doing over the first few days in their new homes.

Two of the men-at-arms that came with Cygna (the tall and lanky clean-shaven blond and the one with short brown hair and a neatly-trimmed beard) more or less keep to themselves for the few days that they are there. They will ship out on the first boat or caravan that passes by. Ideally, they would like to travel overland to Normandy and cross the English Channel there, or to the north cost of Spain and crossing the Bay of Biscay. Neither of them speaks Castilian, or Arabic, and thus have no real ability to mingle (unless some of the residents speak English).

Terrence I had honestly forgotten all about. He would have followed Cygna up to the library and simply watch everyone suspiciously. He won't intervene in the...debate between Serrano and Amos...but he's not at all surprised that they would have a provision about violating inanimate residents and paying for the privilege...that sounds like the kinds of things people like that would do. He would leave a few seconds after Cygna does (and I soooo want him to do whatever the 13th century version of the gesture in panels four and five here is). He will keep her in sight, close enough that he can run to her rescue if need be but not so close that he will draw her attention (and probably her ire – he's known her pretty much all his life).

After this situation is resolved, he will approach Captain Abdul, introduce himself (in his meager Latin) as Cygna's shield grog ("bodyguard"?), and ask if he can train with Abdul's troops when his duty doesn't require him to be elsewhere. If the quality of the covenant's troops is what I fear it is, Terrence won't come right out and say "You guys suck!", but it would probably be evident in his attitude. When not training or with Cygna, he will try to socialize (especially if he can find people who speak Latin). Trying to find out about the people around him, especially any good rumours or information, feeding his Busybody Flaw.

Celestria, until Cygna settles on some housing, will be bored. She doesn't speak any of the languages that anyone else does. She will try to check with Cygna at least once or twice a day if she's able. She will explore, hopefully both sides of the Casa. She probably won't be very impressed by her options on the Right Side (only a handful of men, or people she thinks are men, to catch her interest), so she will try to make her way over to the Left Side to see what's over there. She apparently gets drafted into kitchen duty (which she won't complain too much about...gives her something to do and maybe an opportunity to learn the language here). She also spends some of her free time in the vicinity of the training grounds, watching the men-at-arms train, smiling at them if they look at her, waving to anyone who smiles back, etcetera. And she will give the men-at-arms who came with Cygna a...erm...proper sending-off before they leave for England.

Maria, once she arrives in Cijara, will spend a good part of her time avoiding Cygna until after her compatriots embark for England. After all, 'tis better to seek forgiveness than permission. At her earliest opportunity, she will seek out Captain Abdul and tell him (assuming that he speaks some Castilian) that it is her intention to remain in Cijara, at the Covenant, and join his guard. After all, it is plainly obvious even to her that the Devil has seen fit to decimate his forces and they need all the help they can get. If he expresses doubts that a one-eyed woman can wield a sword, she will offer to prove herself against anyone he chooses.

She will probably spend all of her time on the Right Side of the house. If she's accepted into the Guard, she will seek out the women's barracks and take up residence there.

That's all of my people that I can think of at the moment...at least among the newcomers.

(p.s. apologies for the erraticism of my posts the next day or two...had family in town for the past almost a week, which has really hosed my schedule. Hopefully should be back to my...verbose self soon)

They know from the boat they arrived on that they could walk half a day to Castiblanco and get a boat there, as the largest "village" nearby. "Though," the captain commented, "At one point, the Cijara vineyards probably had a larger population than Castiblanco."

Do they head to Castiblanco or wait at the Cijara docks? The Cijara docks pretty much only are used for wine trade and by the teamsters (importing goods from other towns nearby).

OOC: This question is important.

Which guys suck? There are no guys here. There's Captain Abdul, a bunch of ghosts, and some grapes. Oh, he'll know if anything is coming this way. He's just not likely to be able to do much about it.

OOC: If Chico wants to RP Fati still, he can meet all the new grogs you want to play at the same time.

Again, the house has major staffing issues. Given her skill levels, Celestria could easily end up as Head Maid, despite the language barrier.

OOC: Again, I'll let Chico play Fati for this, either with the other grogs or whatever you guys decide. Note again that there are no other living, human guards. No barracks. Certainly no women's barracks. A few dusty rooms which once were barracks, is the best you can find. On the bright side, it'll be easy to make one the women's barracks that way.

(OOC: Cardholder for Fati's responses to these requests, and Marie's question of a remote post. I'll have an answer tomorrow. Oh, and Amul, they're probably referring to the four "trainees" I wrote into the intro. Namely, the four tallest girls-turned-maids that he throws in quilt armor and makes march once or twice a week. Congratulations people! We have our first "bluff show force"... I'll figure something out. I threw them in, I'll give 'em background."

They will probably, out of idle curiosity, ask what happened to everybody.

They were charged to return to Riversedge as soon as possible, and it sounds like they'll be able to get passage quicker by going to Castilblanco. So, after resting in Cijara for, oh, let's call it three days (because I just happen to be listening to a song by Third Day right now), then off to Castilblanco and the roughly three weeks or so journey back home.

blinkblink For some reason, I was thinking (or assuming) that there were still guys there, but that they were all either too old to go off to war or too young, so anyone left would feel like they should at least try to defend the place, even if they are in their fifties, sixties, seventies, or beyond.

So...um...I guess, then, that except for Captain Abdul every soldier/guard in the Covenant or in Cijara is a woman, then? Man, that's going to really mess with Celestria's plans, too :laughing: n/m, just reread what you replied on Maria's. So, this place is for all intents and purposes undefended. Hmmm...

Housemaid 2, Cooking 2, and Guile 4 would be good enough to make Head Maid? I mean, if you think about it....um...no, not going there, too easy. Ahem. Anyway. I guess the Guile might make up for her (what I see as) mediocre skills, but if she's the best-qualified person left...

(Assuming that the resident staff starts discussing things amongst themselves, to come up with ways to make the shifty newcomers more likely to leave sooner than later).

"What if they didn't like the food?" Teresa (a young-ish girl conscripted to help in the kitchens) asks. "I mean, if I didn't like the food, or it didn't agree with me, I don't think I would want to stay."

Don't get her near Gerard!!! :laughing:

Damien will see as his duty to organize this. And, well, he can't live in something like that!!!

Marie for sure will want a women's barrack. No way she'll sleep close to any man. And Maria's presence will secure her, too, as well as having other "fighting gals", even if she'll probably be dismayed by the four maid lack of skill.

The captain seems to believe that they were drafted by a Christian noble lord to fight in the Reconquista.

Noted.

Too old to go off to war, yes, but there were no old soldiers here -- grogs who work for combat-hungry archwizards don't get to retire. The old and infirm are working the fields, because any man who could raise a pitchfork was drafted into that last battle.

This is what I get for posting from my phone and not looking up stats first. She's probably as good a housemaid as Rebecca. Frankly, I just said that so I wouldn't have to figure out Rebecca's Chamberlain/Housemaid scores to calculate loyalty.

Seeing as how Celestria has, like, 4 Presence before figuring in her Satyr Blood, I can see her being a leader type among the maids. Even more if she starts putting points into Leadership and languages.

Especially if Rebecca, when she sees the charismatic Celestria show up, says "Oh, thank God you're here. Here you go, you're in charge now," in Hebrew as she gives Celestria the towel and walks off before anybody can stop her. Meanwhile, Celestria looks around dumbfounded and asks, "Um...what just happened here?" in English as the maids come up and start peppering her with words she doesn't understand.

Rebecca: "Oh, you don't speak a lick of Castillian, do you? Perfect! You're in charge."

Celestria stands there with a stunned look on her face. (Her reaction is based on how I hear and see Rebecca in my head...speaking in either Hebrew or bad Latin, neither of which Celestria speaks, sounding almost catty and with an almost predatory smile on her face. Also, I'm assuming that the..cadence? rhythm? of the sentence is somewhat similar in Hebrew/Latin as it would be in English).

"Wait a minute...I didn't know he was married! Wait..." she mutters to herself. "I haven't done anything since I've been here...at least not with anybody I didn't already know." She then calls after Rebecca, who's probably long gone by now. "Wait...come back!" (All in English, the only language she knows).

"Um..." she looks around at the other maids, who are probably looking at her expectantly. "I don't suppose any of you speak English, do you?"

A horde of overworked, harried, and Castillian-speaking maids surround her, shouting questions and pantomining.

Okay, not actually a horde. Maybe just three. But it feels like a horde to her, just at the moment.

After a few moments of this, Celestria will throw up her hands and yell, "Quiet!" Then, (hopefully) once the maids have settled down, she will once again ask if any of them speak English. Upon receiving blank stares in return, or after a moment of no answer, she will say, "Fine. You." gesturing to either the maid who's making the most noise or Rebecca if she hasn't skedaddled yet. "Come with me."

She will then turn and head off in search of somebody, anybody who speaks both Castilian and English. If the maid doesn't immediately follow, Celestria will turn and say, "Are you coming, or not?" literally dragging the maid with her if she has to.

She will stop at anyone who she hears talking Castilian and ask if they speak English. She knows One-Eyed Maria speaks both, and should be around here somewhere. If she can't find Maria, or somebody else, if worse comes to worse she thinks Cygna has magic that lets her talk to people who talk other languages, if she could be bothered.

Celestria all but drags the hapless maid behind her, the young girl babbling in Castilian the whole time...something that sounded to Celestria like squawks of protest.

“Now, where would I be if I were trying to get a job as a man-at-arms around here?” Celestria asks nobody in particular. After thinking for a moment, she heads in the direction of the training yard (such as it is). It may take her a little while, but she eventually locates the yard and finds One-Eyed Maria in conversation with Captain Abdul Fati, both of them drenched in sweat, with Marie the Archer standing off to one side (keeping Maria between herself and the captain). Celestria gestures to the maid to stay right where she is, and walks up to Abdul and Maria.

“Maria, may I have a moment or two of your time, please?” she says as she places a hand on Abdul's arm.

She then looks at her hand on his arm and squeezes softly, feeling the firm muscle. “My, aren't you the strong one?” She smiles. “You don't mind if I borrow Maria for a short time, do you?” she asks, believing that Abdul doesn't understand a word she says, then walks away with a little extra wiggle in her walk before he has a chance to answer.

Maria looks at Celestria with a frown, then shrugs at Abdul. “I will be right back, Captain,” she says in Castilian before striding purposefully to catch up with Celestria.

“What is so important that you had to come interrupt us?” Maria says gruffly.

“One of the maids said something to me in some language I don't speak,” Celestria says, “and then all the rest of them start pestering me with questions and stuff. I don't speak the language, but you do, and I would have dragged her here to explain what was going on but she snuck off, so I brought this one instead. Will you please have her tell me what's going on?”

“Fine.” Maria sighs deeply then turns to the maid and speaks in Castilian. “What is your name?” she asks.

“I am Sarah, I am one of Cijara's maids,” the young girl replies.

“Sarah. My name is Maria. Celestria, here,” she says with a gesture toward the English girl, “doesn't speak any Castilian. She is rather confused as to what was going on in there. Would you please tell me what happened?”

“Well...Rebecca Yatrick is, or rather was, now, the head maid here. But she has always said she was only temporarily in charge, until someone else could take over. She saw Celestria, and said that she is now in charge.”

Maria stared at Sarah for a minute, then burst out with a quick laugh. “Did you say that Celestria is the new head maid here?”

“That is what Rebecca said, yes.”

“Do you really want this...this harlot to be in charge of the maidservants here?” Maria asked, not quite believing what Sarah was telling her.

I do not, Maria. I would much rather the head maid be one of us. But Rebecca says that Celestria is now in charge, so she is.”

Maria shakes her head sadly. If the Devil gets his way, she thinks, no man in Cijara will be sleeping alone before long, and we will be doomed to go the way of Sodom and Gomorrah.

She then turns to Celestria, who had been looking at each woman in turn as they spoke, growing a little impatient.

“Well, congratulations are in order, Celestria. You are now the head maid of Cijara.” Maria chuckles. “At least, that is what Rebecca told you in there. And the other maids accept her decision.”

“But...but...I'm not a head maid. I'm barely even a chambermaid at all, I've only been serving Cygna a few months!”

“If the señorita is angry, I did not make the decision and I don't like it, myself,” the maid says quickly in Castilian.

Maria looks quickly at Sarah, then back at Celestria. “A very good point. Let me try to explain that to Sarah.” Maria then turns back to the young Jewish maid.

“Celestria has pointed out to me,” she says in Castilian, “that she has little experience as a maid. She has only been serving the maga Cygna for a short while before coming here.”

“She was the maidservant to a maga?” Sarah exclaimed. “Then Rebecca must have seen something in her, then, for she must have been very important to hold that position! I will tell the others.”

Maria rolled her eye, then turned back to Celestria. “That...didn't really help your case any. I strongly recommend that you learn to speak Castilian. And quickly. It looks like you are in charge to stay. Good luck.”

"And I would suggest," she says to Sarah in Castilian, "that you all keep a very close watch on your men when this one is around."

Maria then turns and makes her way back to Abdul and Marie, who have been watching the whole exchange from a distance.

“But...but...” Celestria says to Maria's retreating back. She then turns to the other maid. “Sarah.” She shrugs. “Let's go back.” She motions to Sarah to move.

Celestria turns and waves playfully at Abdul Fati before she follows Sarah back into the manor house.

Molly was NOT at the Council meeting (Flambeau are expected to be able to take care of themselves!) so she was helping Nicholas and Jeanette move everything into their assigned rooms/making sure Francois and Josephine didn't get into trouble. Whenever she got done and saw the widows and kids carrying up Hiem's and Cygna's belongings, she would have immediately pitched in to take the loads off the children (Weakness: Children) and so will not get around to approaching Fati until the other "personal" shield grogs do (Terrance, Damien, Servus's main guard). Gerard grabbed Augustus and Brigitte, so I have no idea when, if ever, he (Gerard) will get around to approaching Fati.

As Marie and Maria (and Ursula, if she's not guarding Viscaria's back) check through Cijara for Fati, they find him and the four guards that escorted everyone up from the docks hurriedly cleaning out one of the abandoned buildings in the village. The building was the original village barn or warehouse - it's hard to tell which. Two girls are in the center of the building moving several fist-sized rocks to form a large circle and tossing any debris from within the area into a pile of trash near the front door. Along the west wall are several dilapidated weapons racks, laying on the ground missing pegs or missing legs and stacked on top of each other in the corner. Only one short rack is set up and it holds four shortswords; a young Jewish boy is oiling the swords. Along the right and east wall are several armor stands in similar pitiful condition besides the four stands that have quilt armor hung on them - of those racks one is missing its left arm and the quilt armor hangs lopsided off of it. As an older Muslim woman is seen walking out of the small building connected to the empty warehouse with a pile of linens in her hands, it becomes obvious that they are cleaning out the old training building and previous barracks.

"I'm done with the swords and the shields are wiped," the boy declares in Castillian. "Thank you Master Abdul, but it's time I got back to Master Noland. He stated I'm good enough at nails and he's going to show me rings for barrels next! I can't wait!" The two girls finish clearing the salle and also declare they must return to their cleaning duties in the manor.

Abdul shakes his head at the young man's words. "Noland's a master, Abram, not me." His right arm instinctively rubs his left elbow and the nub now there. "He'll teach your a right honest skill, he will. I'm just an old man with a missing arm. But you'll still be back Saturday, right? Colleen, Jeannie, has Rebecca said it's all right?" The girls nod their affirmative as they begin walking and gossiping in Yiddish/Hebrew back to the manor. Both take sidelong glances at Maria and Marie and titter into their hands. Though both Jewish girls are very tall it's apparent that neither could be more then 11 or 12.

"Oh yes, Master Abdul," Abram declares, ignoring the captain's denial. "Noland agrees, using an item really does make you realize how important it is when you make it," he nods. "I won't be making swords anytime soon, but any weapon or armor I will reflect the time I've spent in one with you." So saying the blacksmith's apprentice also bows and makes his way back to the forge. When he passes the two new grogs he shyly dips his head. It's obvious his clean-shaven features are because Abram hasn't even begun to grow any facial hair yet.

As Maria and Marie walk into the newly cleaned building, they overhear the remaining "guard", Bashireh, declare she's removed the linens and her intends to practice longer on the sole standing training dummy (against the back wall) before returning to her maidly duties. Unlike the other three, Bashireh is an older, sinewy woman with a diamond stare in her eyes as she begins to practice. She swings with must gusto but it's obvious she's only recently picked up the sword. Abdul gives her a set of drills to go through, and then turns to the two newcomers.

"I hope ye speak Castillian, lasses," Fati states. "I doubt either of you speak the good word of Allah, Arabic, and ye'll have trouble having anyone on these grounds who be understandin' the Crusader tongues around here. O' course, the only one might care is Bashireh there. Now, are yous here on behalf of all the new guardsmen? Which one yous is here to take command so I can go back to retired and just teaching? Or are you just taking the initiative? Speaks good spunk of you, girlie, should be in charge, you should if you're stepping up like that." His right arm leaves his sword belt and sticks under his left armpit - you realize he's crossed his "arm" and is awaiting a reply.

((OOC: We'll deal with the other "latecomer guards", the ones actually guarding the magi, as they come to him after this meeting with Marie and Maria. Abdul may be directing them to speak with someone else))

Marie is ill at ease, and tends to keep her hand on her dagger and assume an apparently confident attitude. She'd much prefer Maria to be in charge.

The fact that she doesn't understand castillan doesn't help much either (She can understand catalan as a default, though, so she manages to get along), and she can't help wondering if he's making lewd comments, mistaking Fati's familiarity and open attitude. But should he atempt something, she'll be ready to defend herself and skewer him.

In catalan (Haven't Lion and the Lily, but this should be at 3 or 4): I don't understand you. What do you want? Can you understand me?