Rain had departed the Manor quietly after arranging to meet with the group in the town square later.
Her Uncle’s home and warehouse had been protected during the attack by its own surrounding walls; one look at both the latter and the intimidating guards had sent the Xivort attackers off elsewhere in search of easier looking victims.
It was at the warehouse, guardroom and office that the Factor and his employees dealt with the transport and sale of goods that both arrived in and departed from Crystal Brook through the family network, or indeed via his own local connections. It was a fine line that Uncle Tuan skilfully walked; as well as trading directly for local produce, he even might offer lines of credit to both local and overseas parties in advance of a delivery for a variety of goods or services when he could be certain of an eager market and yet Tuan tried to be certain that those lines of credit could be repaid. If they couldn’t be, it was bad for long term business all round and consideration of the long term was the family line; it had held them in good stead for an innumerable count of years, though when it came to business, Tuan was a versatile Tiefling.
The plain stone house and small private garden had no windows on the lower floor and the even those on the upper floor were heavily shuttered. Those that had been invited within were not entirely surprised to find the Factor lived very, very comfortably on his share of the commission that passed into his hands.
The current situation was bad for this steady long term business. Certainly some money was to be made from the current state of hostilities, but Tuan had merely made an adjustment to help the Crystalbrookers in an unobvious way to offset the damage to his finely tuned revenue stream; after all, he also dealt with the inhabitants of the Sildaine Forest as well and it wouldn’t do to offend either side.
One of those inhabitants of the Sildaine happened to be a distant relative of his currently absent wife. A feared recluse on the eaves of the far side of the forest, the Tiefling Master Swordmage Dahn was left alone on his hilltop retreat by nearly all. At Tuan’s suggestion, it had been to here that his unruly niece had been banished for almost four years until quite recently.
Dahn had been a very cold and hard master to have lived with in servitude to during a girl's formative years and upon being granted leave to depart by her master, she- who- was- called Rain had left Elestial as quickly as possible to effect a return to Sybaran. However, her passage had been observed by the Factor’s agencies and when the current conflict had arisen, he had instantly contrived and conspired to get her back here as soon as possible. It was high time that his niece took up her familial obligations and thanks to his foresight and now to his deep satisfaction, a possible solution to Tuan's current problems was now before him.
What he hadn’t expected was how nervous he felt. Upon receiving Rain in his office, she’d been curt and returned the bare minimum of polite greetings and enquiries. It was obvious that she was in fact rather angry and during a consideration of her demeanour whilst making expected platitudes, he realised that she suspected or knew that he was the cause of her return to Elestial ( “Hmm, something to consider later.” ) .
A mannerly pretence was made of enquiring as to the reasons for her visit, “Ah, a noble cause indeed and one which I as the Factor thoroughly approve of and support,” though the almost snarled conversation on her part made him wonder if the interview had been a mistake. As much of that seething anger, ( “But not all perhaps?” ) was currently directed at him, he briefly had to resist an impulse of reaching for the bell-rope that he used to summon his chief guard or at least fingering his concealed weapon. Thankfully, the tea he had still managed to beautifully prepare, whilst being watched in a now sullen silence, appeared to have some considerable calming effect.
As they now sat drinking the tea, Tuan contemplated her appearance from a more relaxed position. The lean and wiry girl had grown into a fierce, lean and wiry young woman. The hard hands and the ease in the way she had carried her blade (now resting in a rack near the door, but “That wouldn’t matter if she wanted it,” he realised) gave cause for further satisfaction. He’d been correct about what to do with the troublesome child; she’d indeed learned some discipline after all, though it was now all too clear that she hadn’t liked the lesson and held him partially responsible.
Solemnly, “It is good and perfectly correct that you have taken the time to visit, though I am certain that time is pressing and your fellow ambassadors will soon be expecting your return to their company. Is there perhaps anything I can do to help you on your way?”
Rain bowed in the sitting position to the floor, though her response was more direct and to the point, “Yes, a place called the Crystal Cave came to light in our meeting with Lady Tamora as a place where the trysters would go. Do you know where it is and will you be so kind as to give me directions there?”
