After a short time, Ms. Teniru returns to the podium. "Well, then," she smiles, "I hope you have all enjoyed fine meal our stewards have prepared for us here. But now, I ask you all to turn your attention to the business at hand, and answer the question,'What is HiranuCorp?'"
At this, the lights in the room go out. A melodic tenor voice (considered the ideal of a luriani male voice) says "Less than 400 years ago, Timur Hiranu, a young member of the Darammiya Opera House, had a dream: To make the high culture of Daramm, [A hologram of Daramm star system appears in the centuer of the room.] which he valued so much, accessible to all the sentients of the Imperium. He stunned his Conductor, and the public by leaving the opera house to found schools in some of the poorest regions of the planet. He risked imprisonment to teach his students the Operas of Nerilu, which had not been heard by any outside the nobility in centuries. He was to be arrested - indeed he had already been seized when his students began to sing to the arresting officers. [At this, Luriani opera musinc fills the room - OOC: it sounds like a cross between whalesong and the Vienna Boy's Choir, and is obviously performed underwater. The simulated effect in this air filled environment is pleasant, if quite strange to non-Luriani present.]
The officers, low born men themselves, were transfixed, and allowed Timur to go free. Two months later, groups of his students were performing all over Daramm, and within a year, his best students were performing at the Darammiya Opera House, which Timur had so recently left. The Archduke witnessed the performance, and formally lifted the restrictions on performances of the Operas of Nerilu, and also granted Timur and his students a large sum, so they could bring their music to Dukh and to other worlds. And thus, HiranuCorp was born."
The presentation continues for about twenty minutes, describing how as Timur visited other worlds, he gained respect for their varied artisitic traditions, both within high culture and common. The corporation expanded both in terms of the types of performances it championed and the worlds it served, eventually encompassing written and recorded works in addition to live performances. It began controlling not only the performances, but also the distribution networks (broadcast stations, newspapers, etc.), and it's most recent ventures, theme parks which "aim at instilling new generations with the same love of culture which inspired our founder all those years ago."
The presentation closes with a brief assessment of the areas of growth HiranuCorp hopes to pursue in th coming years, and a message from the Archduke, proclaiming the continued relevance and importance of HiranuCorp for all the citizens of the Domain.
When the lights come back on, Ms.Teniru gives a brief oral presentation which highlights the interests attendees revealed in their reponse cards. A question and answer session follows. The long and short of it is that HiranuCorp seems like it would provide good, steady, if slightly dull, work to the majority of it's "behind the curtain" employees, while providing the opportunity for stardom to a very few members of a variety of races on planets across the Domain.
[Specific questions can be asked and answered, of course, otherwise, the seminar ends.]
Have fun while I'm gone.
