Sitting on a veranda, sipping cocktails, with handsome men holding trays containing hors d'oevures, glasses, and bottles, two noble women of Illigyr engage in the oldest profession - politics. One of the women is in her late 50's, with her hair cut in a warrior's style. She has a severe, hawk-like face, which only rarely carries a smile. She wears a half-sari and loose pantaloons. A brooch bearing the sigil of House Xetiral clasps the half-sari, while a dress epaulet bears the rank symbol of a general. The other woman is much younger, in her mid-to-late twenties. Her face carries a politician's smile, and she is dressed in an informal, but expensive sari.