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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Carlo-One" data-source="post: 9032974" data-attributes="member: 7015827">Lloria hailed him as he entered, but Darrow just muttered that the cursed priest – meaning the missing dwarven cleric Njord – was nowhere to be found. Queron’s servant Bustable shortly thereafter announced that dinner was served and the five adventurers followed him to the dining room to be seated. The dwarf recovered his manners at the table, greeting Janatha as Bustable described the courses for the meal. The first course was a potato leek soup, with coriander from Sembia, followed by roast wild boar, with applesauce. For dessert, cream pastries would be served. Dermot declared that his mouth was already watering, as Bustable finished by pointing out that on the table was Westgate Ruby for wine and the Tanagyr Stout, for those who preferred such, along with fresh bread. Queron thanked his servant and asked his appreciative guests to please begin.Over the table, Darrow and Queron discussed business with the Ironhelm clan, as all dug in with enthusiasm, Rosten especially. The hin lifted a bowl of soup to his mouth, ignoring the spoon on the table, and drank greedily, some of the liquid inevitably running down his chin and adding to the many stains on his clothing. Janatha tittered at Rosten’s display, but he simply shrugged and began tearing bread and stuffing it into his face.In response to a question from Dermot, Queron mentioned that following the defeat of the Astorians, there had been no violence in the city. It remained to be seen what to do with their old headquarters, however, which had become a point of contention among the Council. Queron explained that he moved to have it seized and put under Watch control once the criminal gang was cleared out, but its fate had not yet been settled. Dermot and Lloria mentioned that some friends of theirs were interested in it, specifically a Kinetha of the Mutual Aid Society. Queron indicated that he had not met Kinetha, but vaguely recalled them being one of the petitioners for the building, with some proposal about helping all travelers through Teziir. A noble endeavor, but they did not have much coin to put down, Queron observed.Aerikoth queried how many petitioners were there, as Rosten poured a generous amount of wine for himself and quaffed it. Queron smiled wryly and said he was sure the three other Council members would all like to assume control of the property, as well as he, given its value. Yet none of them could simply take it over for their own benefit. He mentioned that Council Member Dean Shulayer, for example, had suggested turning it into a trading company headquarters - which would benefit his business the most, it seemed. Dermot praised the Society leadership as good people and Queron stated he would be willing to hear them out, if they had a real business plan.As they turned to the main course, Queron raised his wineglass in a toast, to old friends and new, Janatha also taking a sip from hers as she smiled. Lloria poured herself some of the Ruby, enough to be polite and join in raising a glass for the toast, but only just enough, as she didn't appear to be interested in wine for the time being. Having had little luck in her previous attempts to contribute to the conversation, she opted instead to focus on her meal and observing the others. Being a good host, Queron took note of the large warrior priestess' reticence at the table and asked to know more about her, as well as her thoughts on the use of the Astorians' old headquarters by the 'Dragon Coast Mutual Aid Society'. Queron observed that if the temples of the Triad were united in their request for such a thing, perhaps with other allies, it could carry significant weight with the Council. However, he believed it would take some convincing, as the followers of Torm and Helm in Teziir were not on particularly good terms.Lloria shifted a bit uncomfortably in her seat at being put on the spot, but gamely pointed out how the Society was not obviously aligned with any of the Council, so there would not be a question about someone’s business being favored over another’s. She warmed up as she spoke, including to the wine, which she seemed more inclined to drink the more she talked. She also promised to check in at the Temple of Torm, to see what their stance was.After politely waiting for Lloria to finish, Aerikoth queried about the other members of the Teziir Council. Queron paused for a moment before giving a profile of each. He first mentioned Dean Shulayer, with whom Aerikoth was already acquainted, as Shulayer had jointly presided at the magistrate's hearing for Helm's Shadows during which the company was fined for street violence. Queron believed that Shulayer’s trading company was associated with the Astorians and slaving operations, although he had no proof. As for the other Council members, Harvas Peltsen was the sole remaining member of the original city founders. It was rumored he has elven blood, which would account for his longevity. He planned to retire this year, it was not certain who would succeed him. The merchant Mulnis Lenz was the wealthiest of those not on the Council, but was involved in a Cormyrian scandal a few years ago, when he was a caravan master. Queron described him a grasping sort and solely concerned with profit. The last Council member was Halaran Estuviar. His son was Cydaran, the wizard of the tower in Teziir. Queron counted neither of them as friends, and Cydaran's activities were the subject of much rumors in the city, which was not used to the doings of wizards.Prompted again by Aerikoth, Queron further explained that there had traditionally been four Council members since Teziir's founding. However, there was no formal written charter or law. New members were voted on by the existing Council and required three votes to join. Historically the process was initiated whenever one of the Council decided to retire. Harvas Peltsen had already indicated he planned to leave the Council by the end of this year, which allowed time for succession planning, and perhaps some political maneuvering, Queron wryly observed.After some additional conversation about the former Astorians headquarters, Aerikoth inquired about the coded ledger the company had seized there. Queron indicated that his agents managed to decipher part of it and as they suspected, it recorded transactions between the Astorians and various clients, largely to do with smuggling either goods or people through the Dragonmere. Although it was useful in determining who was doing business with the now-defunct thieves guild, it would not be enough to serve as evidence before a magistrate, he believed. The ledger yielded some interesting information about Council Member Dean Shulayer's 'West Wind Trading Company' and its dealings with the Astorians, however Queron had no doubt Shulayer would deny any knowledge of such things. At Aerikoth’s request, Queron agreed to provide them with a copy of the seized ledger, to be ready in two days’ time. (The wizard once again appears to be calculating all the angles and making the most of them. --R)Lloria meanwhile had been paying attention to Janatha and then rather bluntly pointed out that she wasn’t eating much, even though the food was good. At the other end of the table, Janatha idly prodded her food, but then hurriedly took a bite after Lloria's words. She agreed it was quite good and she was fortunate to have it, but confessed she did not have much of an appetite since she “returned” – evidently having trouble referring directly to her period of captivity with the Astorians. Lloria encouraged her to be healthy and Queron interjected that he had spared no expense with the best healers in Teziir. Janatha, smiling wanly, said that was true and she lacked for nothing. Yet to her life seemed gray and washed out, as if carrying a leaden weight each day. She wistfully commented that sometimes she wished she was back at the Gatereach, working for Jandrico. Lloria in response encouraged Janatha to seek a purpose, perhaps by volunteering at one of the temples.Janatha considered Lloria's words, although blushingly confessed she was not interested in the Triad temples, though, without meaning any offense. From the other end of the table, Queron sounded hopeful as he spoke up, saying that Janatha had a good heart and perhaps time at one of the temples would be a welcome change; an introduction to the cleric of Chauntea could be arranged. Lloria, her speech even more heavily accented than usual, acknowledged with a wolfish grin that the cleric of Chauntea were worthy and might be more to Janatha’s liking.The piratical hin Rosten Foregallow had been focused entirely on his food for all of the conversation. Large chunks of boar were impaled on downward stabs of the knife in his left hand before the dexterous, long-nailed fingers of his right plucked off smaller morsels and chucked them into his open mouth. He drank prodigiously and greedily. Meat-grease and wine ran freely from his mouth. New stains joined the old stains on his clothes. His yellowed eyes ranged from speaker to speaker as they spoke, his mouth always full. His gaze dwelt for a long moment on Janatha but finally settled on the Council Member. His eyes narrowed.Rosten then declared that no matter what Aerikoth had said, pausing to belch loudly before continuing, Helm’s Shadows wouldn’t lift a gods-rotted finger to help get Queron’s trade started with the Ironhelm Hold. Leastways, not until he told them what it would be worth to the company. The hin reached out for more wine and poured himself a large glass. Taking the glass in his hand, his long fingers and filthy fingernails encircling it like talons, he swilled it around in the manner he had seen men of noble birth savor their drink. He sniffed at it, before smirking and draining the entire glass. Wiping his mouth and setting the glass down, he spoke again, wagering that – as the hin put it – a fleet of wagons filled with dwarven goods and rolling freely to Teziir would be worth more than some poxy ledger or a favor for a Society, worth a lot of coin in fact to Queron.Once Rosten had finished, Aerikoth stared at him for a moment with an unblinking gaze and an emotionless expression before he turned to Queron. The wizard stated calmly that, before the Council Member responded to the ill-mannered halfling, he should understand that Rosten did not speak for all of them and the temerity he just displayed was not shared. The wizard then calmly took a sip of his wine before folding his hands back in the sleeves of his robes, glancing between Rosten and Queron. Although Janatha had audibly gasped at Rosten's drunken tirade, Queron, other than a brief, sour expression appeared to maintain calm, simply referring to the fact Rosten was perhaps not used to the rule of polite society. More pointedly, Queron stated he knew that a hin new to their company did not speak for them, and much less for Clan Ironhelm. With that, Queron pushed back from the table and motioned to Janatha, saying he would see her to her room, then meet them in the foyer to say farewell for the evening. (I shall take note of how someone of Queron's stature reacts to this type of abuse by a welcomed guest - not with childish argument or choleric anger, but rather taking the high ground while simultaneously putting him in his place. I would, however, be surprised if the hin were ever welcomed back into the Council Member's home, after such a display. --C)</blockquote>

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