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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Carlo_One" data-source="post: 7588629" data-attributes="member: 6987927">Iono smiled with pleasure. "Indeed, I am glad to hear that your company is interested in undertaking this mission. Call your compatriots over and I shall discuss what House Thalavar is willing to do to support you. I shall also offer you what information we have on the threat posed by the Fire Knives - and exactly what we expect of you." Iono pulled a sealed letter from a pouch. "Before I forget, Lady Roaringhorn, we received a missive for you recently, please take this."After taking a seat in one of the chairs, Rahnee cast a quick look at the sealed message - a look that was enough to cause her to break the seal and open the message. As Iono began speaking, Rahnee's eyes quickly followed her brother's almost illegible handwriting. At the end, she refolded the parchment and slipped it into a small pocket on the backside of her swordbelt. Her face remained politely interested as she languidly crossed her legs to rest a booted foot on the opposite knee. But her fingers fluttered across her raised knee and then rapped twice against the the dagger hilt barely seen above the top of her boot, and her eyelids were half-closed as she looked at Brok-Tul. *Interesting news*Brok-Tul came over once he saw Rahnee sit, and sat next to her in a chair. After watching her read the note, he furrowed his hairy brows at her expression and reaction. Noting her lidded eyes, he nodded and then reverted his attention back to Iono. "Well, I see that you are indeed interested, for which I am pleased," said Iono, who appeared satisfied and slightly relieved. "I will discuss exact compensation with your adventuring company in private. However, I shall discuss what House Thalavar is willing to provide all of you in this endeavor." Iono cleared his throat."First, supporting a base of operations. Castle Thalavar and any Thalavar holdings are out of the question, since they would link you to us. However, I believe your group can relatively easily find reasonable long-term lodgings, preferably private, which we will compensate you for. Second, we will advance a portion of your fee for you to purchase additional personal equipment. Third, any major expenses you may have that are of great importance to your success, you may submit for reimbursement, at my discretion."Iono's tone hardened. "Now, I shall talk more of what House Thalavar wishes in this matter." He went on to describe in detail how a certain Captain Yar, one of Thalavar's most trusted ship captains in the Westgate-Cormyr trade, had been killed two weeks prior, his corpse found by the House Ssemm docks in the Harbor Loop district. On the body, placed in plain view, was a fancy playing card bearing an image of a dagger, oriented point down, and surrounded by flame. Rumors recently heard about a resurgence of the Fire Knives and their old vendetta against the ruling Obarskyrs of Cormyr appear to have been confirmed by this act, as the card carried the unmistakable symbol of the assassins' guild."It was clearly intended to send a message," continued Iono. "The body otherwise could have simply been dumped in the harbor. We interpret it as a clear warning to any, particularly our House, who wish to have strong ties to Cormyr, business or otherwise. As business with Cormyr accounts for a considerable amount of our income, this is very worrisome, as you can imagine." Iono paused for breath. "We already have increased security for our operations and are on the alert for anything suspicious. However, we need information about our enemy in order to eliminate the threat. Who in Westgate houses the Fire Knives? Where is their headquarters? What are their plans? Why choose now to strike and in this fashion? House Thalavar is not without resources to defend itself, but must know where and how to strike. Our own agents, unfortunately, may be too well known for this task. And..." Iono's voice darkened as he paused. "We cannot know if we ourselves have been penetrated by Fire Knives. Only with a group brought in from the outside, such as yourselves, can we be sure of this.""I understand that some of you may need to attend to other matters before embarking on this mission, as this will, I expect, take your full attention once you begin. We will also need to agree on a method of secret communication, to avoid having you come to Castle Thalavar so often. If I may make a suggestion, you as a group should consider adopting a new name, at least for this mission, which you can use to refer to yourselves in communiques." Iono concluded, "I shall of course entertain any questions by the group and, when Lady Rahnee, Aerikoth, and Brok-Tul are ready, privately talk of their fee."</blockquote>

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