Re: Town Meeting

[Lady Val]

Lady Val is impressed with Gurok's speech "Well, that sounds like a decent compromise."

[Degren Brightforge]

"Well, I think we should just finish this piece of business and move on. This meeting did very well, but it seems we've lost much of our steam. It may have been too much to keep everyone interested. "

[Grayfeared the Whitehawk]

"It seems that all we have left to do is decide the power structure of the law enforcement, and decide who fills the positions. I think we've decided Gurok is one."

[Joy Rosewood]

"Veren't zere ozer items on ze list to get done for zis meeting?"

[Lady Val]

"As per Gurok's letter and our conversation prior to this meeting I believe the following topics remain:

The charging of the circles
The Rift
The Champions
Pierre and the Porquois
Pierre's "Situation"
Collection of silver
Merchants
Asher and Sky
Asher's brother
Faerie circle
The imperial census taker and incoming forces
Eyes and ears on the inside
Holdfast's independence
A census of the peoples and visitors of Holdfast

I think a discussion on the circles would be a nice change of topic. The Faerie circle is new of course and according to Volk and Jaya the Fire circle is now fully charged and the Earth Circle will soon follow suit. For those of you that don't know what we mean by this, charging the circles will allow us to close or stabilize the rift near Holdfast either removing the Hellions and their ilk from our town entirely or preventing them from becoming stronger. Consequently we need to ensure the Water and Air Circles see increased activity in the coming months. As for the Faerie circle, well, as far as I can tell it is a direct link to the mists, can protect up to four Fae at a time, and will allow us to communicate with the Faerie in the event that their assistance is needed. For instance, say, in the event we need to deal with another band of rogue... Elves, although I find it difficult to consider such codeless persons Elves."

[Lady Val]

Lady Val clears her throat and continues "Additionally there is the topic of Pierre and the predicament of the Porquois." She pauses to sip her drink.

"For those of you not in attendance, the Porquois are a group of porcine based Fae who are being plagued by Werewolves. They have come to our town to fetch Pierre, whom they know as "the Famous Werewolf Hunter", in the hopes that he will save their village. Unfortunately it appears that last summer Pierre was indeed bitten by a Werewolf and is beginning to change more with every full moon despite his death in the Mists due to a genetic predisposition to lycanthropy. For now he seems to be in control and can stop the transformation using force of will alone. Nevertheless, Bikbun and Degren have put out a call for silver metal objects and ingots to be smelted down into weapons to fight the beasts on the Porquois territory. Several members of the town have offered to assist Pierre in ridding the Porquois village of monsters and they require silver weapons to do so. Additionally, should the beasts attack Holdfast additional silver would not go amiss. Finally, in case some of you were wondering, the Knights do have a plan in place to contain or restrain Pierre should he turn into a full Werewolf, however if any of you have additional information on how to stop Werewolves or prevent the transformation I can assure you both Pierre and the Knights would be grateful for your input."

[Joy Rosewood]

"If I find any silver, I vill give it to ze blacksmiths. Iz zere a cure for ze lycanthropy? Vould vearing silver do anyzing?"

[Degren Brightforge]

" Silver is required to the killing of such beasts. Their skin is tough, but can be pierced by conventional weapons; however,only silver can finish the job. The Pourqios, as of right now, are missing. They were to return several days back to escort Pierre and his warriors to their homeland, but, against his wishes, they decided to explore the country side in search of building materials... they never returned. This may simply mean that they got lost and are fine, or it could mean that the wolves followed them back here and are prowling our forests. As such, I highly recommend that anyone leaving the safety of the inn not go alone. Myself and the Knights will be more than willing to escort you on any errands you need to do within the bounds of Holdfast.

As far as a cure goes, we do have a recipe for a powerful alchemical concoction which may cause the beast within Pierre to recess, but the items are proving difficult to come by. I believe Talia and Malva, both fine alchemists, have been working on it. "

[Lady Val]

"Oh dear, I did not know that the Porquois were missing. I would certainly hate for us to be besieged by any wolf-pig hybrids. If Talia or Malva know what ingredients they need I may be able to procure them using my connections with the local merchants or my family in Tor'Jadin depending on how rare they are. I'll also be sure to ask for silver, it seems like we are going to need a lot of it." She swirls her glass and watches as bubbles foam to the surface.

"Has anyone actually done a geological study of Holdfast? I myself do not know much about these things but it may be a good idea. If there is a chance we might be sitting on a vein of silver ore it would certainly save us quite a bit of time and effort." She looks up from her drink and stares out the window

"As for travel within the town, well, I suppose a buddy system might be for the best. If possible I would appreciate an escort to the Faerie circle when this meeting is finished. I have a theory I would like to test. As Fae the Faerie may be able to remove the infection from the Porquois, presuming it is a disease that affects those who have the hereditary predisposition. If the Fairy circle is able to purify the Porquois if they have turned into beasts then that may give us another method of curing lycanthropy. Given the fact that Pierre is not cured despite his contact with them in the Mists, this curse may be beyond their power, but I think it is worth asking the Faerie if this is possible."

[Joy Rosewood]

"I am attempting to create a geological map of zis place, but ze voods are filled with giant spiders und ozer such lovely zings. Fortunately zey don't seem to be overly active in ze early morning.
Vat effect does magic have on ze verewolves? Ve have plenty of mages, could zey not enchant veapons and use zeir spells against zem? Und do zey ever transform back into zeir original forms?"

*Joy is writing things in her book*

[Malva]

"I've considered doing a geological map of the area. The thing is, almost everything is boulders that have fallen down from the hill; you'd never know if something is actually attached in the ground or just a boulder covered in moss."

[Lady Val]

"Have either of you ever found silver ore near Holdfast? And the blocks themselves, surely if they are moved they will look different from the surrounding strata? As I said, natural minerals are not my forte, but surely there must be something nearby maybe even an abandoned mining site? The Imperials mentioned that there were valuable resources in this area, surely that must have been based on something."

[Malva]

"Everything's just shale covered in moss, and then there's just random boulders of stuff that doesn't make any sense; like there's a chunk of granite over by the knight's camp for no reason."

[Lady Val]

"Oh... that's unfortunate. Well I guess we will have to import the supplies we need then, unless there is a random boulder that has chunks of silver ore lying around somewhere."

She takes a moment to sip her drink then asks Malva and Joy: "I don't suppose shale has any specific uses does it? Are there any unique or useful ores that are usually found near shale sites?"

[Joy Rosewood]

"Unfortunately, shale iz useless for our purposes, unless ze verevolves have a veakness to pottery... "

[Malva]

"Ores... not usually. It's just hardened mud, really. It can be good for fossils, I guess."

[Degren Brightforge]

" I think our best bet is to find traders who are willing to make trips between us and the rest of the island. Otherwise, it will take forever to gather some of the necessary items we require. Perhaps we should discuss that next? Lady Val, you're skilled in trade, do you know anyone who's willing?"

[Lady Val]

"There are many merchants in the area who are able to procure such things but I honestly think our beast bet is Borin. He travels here regularly and he has mentioned in the past that he can get silver ingots. I think if we ask Borin to bring some we can easily purchase large quantities of silver using the town funds. We have close to thirty rares in the town coffers. Technically the town still owes me four rares but until we can exchange the necklaces from the people of Cynevin for currency, all of our investments are in... well jewellery form. But Borin will likely give us a good trade and failing that we can exchange them at the gem crafters in Applevale for rares. Additionally, he and Bikbun have some sort of arrangement where Borin just seems to give Bikbun any metal he desires. As such, we may not even need to pay for the silver ingots, we can simply get Bikbun to ask for them and then distribute them between yourself and Bikbun."

"Finally should dealings with Borin fail, I have my own contacts if need be."

[Degren Brightforge]

" I don't see Borin failing us. But whatever deal he's got with Bikbun, id love to get the Order than kind of contract. Perhaps we should work on selling those gems, and use some of the town's coin. That kind of coin could do wonders for the people here. "

[Lady Val]

"My thoughts exactly. The necklaces were a gift from the people of Cynevin to the citizens of Holdfast. I have been keeping them safe for a 'rainy day' as it were. I think the need for silver weapons might be considered a good enough reason to sell them." Val states in agreement.

"Realistically we should be trying to maintain the town coffers. Our town rarely sells things to merchants and we really do need to increase trade within the town. Yes buying things helps bring more traders to the area but we cannot live on the barter system forever. At least, not outside of the town."

[Degren Brightforge]

"Not only that, but we need to find a way to increase those coffers. With those funds we could improve survivability with higher grade armor, healing potions, and well stocked mages. But I doubt many of us want to pay taxes. Do we have any other skills that could help produce a large enough income to help keep the town funded?"

[Durkis]

"I think a bit of a problem arisshessh though. Do you actually have a good sshupply method for thosshe thingssh you sshuggessht? In my experiensshe, I have not passshed many merchantssh in the local roadssh"

[Lady Val]

"There are usually one or two mercants a month. However if we produce more items it may increase trade. I may be able to sell scrolls once Malva has made the ink, Timmean apparently farms good enough strawberries to impress a queen, and there is no reason why our alchemists cannot sell excess potions or smiths sell excess weaponry. Failing that Applevale has a large market and there is no reason we cannot visit there regularly."

[Joy Rosewood]

"I can make all kinds of zings zat ve can sell. I lack tools at ze moment zough... I know merchants vould vant leather and fur."

[Lady Val]

"Which is exactly why Gurok suggested we look within the town to see who can make what and what they need to do so. Bikbun or Degren will likely make you the tools you need Joy but others may need more specialist materials like alchemy ingredients or wooden based objects. I believe Volkihere is now the only person in this town capable of performing basic carpentry. As a result additional training might be something we may want to seek out, especially in useful fields such as enchanting, smithing, woodworking, geology, arcane dissection, weapons training, and herbology. In the past, Phineas has offered to find tutors for most people using his contacts. We may want to ask him about finding more to help hone our skills." Lady Val thinks for a moment.

"Yes I believe that covers most of the things relating to merchants in this town, town finances, and Pierre's situation. Really the only things left to cover are what to do about the missing Elemental champions and Asher and Skye's disappearance. Unless, of course people have more they want to add."

[Sponsored content]