Against the Storm, ReRecruited Thread

[DM_Matt]

As Rahja walks into the upscale tavern in Waterdeep, she replays in her head her orders from Grand Matron Sylia, the mistress of the local temple of Sune. The assignment has been quite an honor for Rahja, and perhaps quite an opportunity as well. She was to meet with Danilo Thalavar, son of the Lady Thistle Thalavar, the most powerful nobleman in the city of Longsaddle, once a sleepy trade town, now a thriving city of pleasures, owing to its location on the borders of the conflict that rages between Storm and the free people's of the North. Longsaddle had become a neutral zone where combatnts on both sides could find pleasures of all sorts to distract them from the fighting outside. It had also become a den of corruption, where traitors, spies, and exploiters of war and suffering from both sides could meet anonymously and not-so-anonymously (OOC: The small town from canon-FR is IMC a hybrid between Westgate and Las Vegas). Slyia tasked Rahja to negotiate the opening of a temple of Sune in Longsaddle, and had even floated ideas about giving the church of Sune formal powers of some vague sort within the city. If Rahja were to succeeed in negotiating a good arrangement, she would be appointed Matron of the new temple. There would be obstacles of course...most importantly money, and likely competitioin from the more hedonistic Sharess, but the deal is most certainly possible if she players her cards right...

Rahja scans the room as she enters, and the host, a man named Hargin, whom she is well-acquanted with, leads her into the back room, where two scantily-clad waitresses are serving a party five expensively-dressed young men. The leader stands up to introduce himself. He is strikingly handsome -- or rather, he clearly used to be. His otherwise-perfect features are marred by a badly-broken and scarred nose. Still, though, his personal magnetism and self-confidence clearly remain. "Danilo Thalavar, at your service! And these fine young gents are my brothers Horace and Lulo, and our good friends Happy Gondegal, owner of the Shining Way Hotel and Gaston Zibel, who represents those who provide vital services of the night." "Waitress, some of your finest elven wine for the lady."

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Meanwhile, Ines walks through the shadows of the very same establishment, attracted by news that wealthy, powerful strangers from the north had arrived for a very important business deal in this very tavern...

 

[Thanee]

Rahja had chosen her preferred outfit, skirt with long slit and a brassière, which seemed quite fitting for this task. Throwing her hair back in a fluent motion and with a smile on her lips Rahja strides towards the man, while her taxing eyes wander about his body, looking him up and down. She finally meets his gaze with an even broader smile and stops only an arm-length away from him. Rahja slightly bows towards Thalavar with a faint indication of a curtsy, before she addresses him.

A pleasure to meet a gentleman like you, Mister Thalavar. My name is Rahja. She nods towards the other four, turning her head back afterwards. A glass of fine wine and a place amidst your company here, what else could a lady ask for on a bright day like this.

Rahja waits for Thalavar to show her a seat and then sits down, leaning back while crossing her legs, which lets the cloth of her skirt drop left and right along the cut, revealing even more of her perfect figure.

When the waitress brings the wine, she takes her glass and holds it in front of her, saying On an enjoyable evening and our upcoming relations!

She waits for the others to agree, then takes a small sip and puts the glass back down.

 

[DM_Matt]

They all echo "to pleasure and success!" raise their glasses, and drink about half of each glass.

"Your beauty is even more radient than reputed, my lady. I am here to present a proposition that will be most pleasurable and profitble for us all. My city, as you know, has experienced a miraculous transformation in the past several years. In fact, bards, particularly those in our employ, are now heralding it in song as the City of Pleasures. Of course, such pleasures have their downsides without anyonee to monitor them, to help them along, and to deal with the consequences. Tell me, what sort of role do you see the church of Sune playing in our grand city?"

As Danilo finishes his speech, he and the others finish their wine, and order the waitress "one more for everyone!"

 

[DM_Matt]

They all echo "to pleasure and success!" raise their glasses, and drink about half of each glass.

"Your beauty is even more radient than reputed, my lady. I am here to present a proposition that will be most pleasurable and profitble for us all. My city, as you know, has experienced a miraculous transformation in the past several years. In fact, bards, particularly those in our employ, are now heralding it in song as the City of Pleasures. Of course, such pleasures have their downsides without anyonee to monitor them, to help them along, and to deal with the consequences. Tell me, what sort of role do you see the church of Sune playing in our grand city?"

As Danilo finishes his speech, he and the others finish their wine, and order the waitress "Six please, one more for everyone!"

 

[Thanee]

Rahja sighs slightly and takes a deep breath as she has to move on to less enjoyable matters. She smiles.

Our beloved Lady is not only the promoter of pleasure and joy, she is also the protector of art, beauty and passion. Your little town is a jewel in the face of Faerûn, and the presence of our church would make it shine even more, while preserving its beauty at the best of our abilities. The attraction of new travelers surely is a huge benefit for your business and the safety it offers will help them relax. When the bards sing of passion today, their songs will truely carry this passion tomorrow!

 

[DM_Matt]

Rahja sighs slightly and takes a deep breath as she has to move on to less enjoyable matters. She smiles.

Our beloved Lady is not only the promoter of pleasure and joy, she is also the protector of art, beauty and passion. Your little town is a jewel in the face of Faerûn, and the presence of our church would make it shine even more, while preserving its beauty at the best of our abilities. The attraction of new travelers surely is a huge benefit for your business and the safety it offers will help them relax. When the bards sing of passion today, their songs will truely carry this passion tomorrow!

Gondegal smiles pipes up: "Spoken like a true marketeer. As the owner of the largest entertainment complex in town, I look eagerly await the possibility of your church bringing such beuty to our premises. The question, however, is what services exactly you will be equipped to offer, and waht sort of facilities you would demand..."

Lulo looks at the second glass of wine next to Rahja's mostly-full first and says "M'lady, where we come from, 'tis rude to lag behind your party such."

 

[Thanee]

I always drink slowly, as I tend to fully enjoy the taste of this fine wine.

Speaking of that, Rahja takes another sip. She looks around if someone has already finished his second glass and moves her full one over to him.

Here, you seem thirsty, she says with a smile, then turns to Gondegal.

I'm not an architect, but we only need an area with enough room to build a temple with a beautiful garden around it. You surely have seen the temples of Sune already and know what I mean. About the services, of course, the clergy there would be equipped to offer healing and protection for a small fee, and they will also offer guidance to the interested. Is there anything special you have in mind in terms of services, since you ask? Anything you would especially like to see or absolutely do not want to?

While waiting for an answer, she slowly finishes her glass.

 

[DM_Matt]

I always drink slowly, as I tend to fully enjoy the taste of this fine wine.

Speaking of that, Rahja takes another sip. She looks around if someone has already finished his second glass and moves her full one over to him.

Here, you seem thirsty, she says with a smile, then turns to Gondegal.

I'm not an architect, but we only need an area with enough room to build a temple with a beautiful garden around it. You surely have seen the temples of Sune already and know what I mean. About the services, of course, the clergy there would be equipped to offer healing and protection for a small fee, and they will also offer guidance to the interested. Is there anything special you have in mind in terms of services, since you ask? Anything you would especially like to see or absolutely do not want to?

While waiting for an answer, she slowly finishes her glass.

Rahja's ploy works for the time being, and she gets away with not having to finish both glasses, altouhgh it looks like the others will be ordering another round pretty soon.

Danilo thinks for a moment "Do you think that your temple could not only have a central location, but have agents operating as part of other establishments as well? For instance, individual inns."

Happy doesn't look pleased. Rahja senses that he hopes to use the Sunites to achieve a competitive advantage over his rivals.

"...or brothels?," Gaston interrupts.

 

[Thanee]

I guess that depends on the individual persons and also on the need of temple work. It's not impossible, as the Sunites can be found whereever beauty and passion prevail. If an establishment is in need, I'm sure the temple could help out for a while, until the job is filled otherwise.

Since Longsaddle is a bordertown, there will be a lot of travelers coming through, explorers, adventurers, who often find pieces of beauty on their travels. You all know our interest in the fine arts and it would be great if we had an opportunity to buy individual pieces of art from those to further decorate the temple with. Maybe we could even arrange a kind of market for such items or an auction held monthly. It would increase the money flow and therefore your customers as well. What do you think?

 

[Thanee]

*bump for Mithreander*