Roland's Office

[Roland Moonstar]

Roland's Office

With a great deal of Paxia in ruins, and entire areas covered in rubble or controlled by predators, orcs and mercenaries, Roland did not believe it was his right to waste any time, effort or money on an elaborate palace, not when so many were poor, tired, and hungry.

Later, when the rebuilding efforts were further along, and the refugees were all returned, then he could concentrate on some sort of edifice to house all the future Thanes and Lord Protectors of Paxia in a grand building such as Thane Hakim once had.

But that would be later. For now he simply commandeered the vacant corner office and large maple desk of Habby Burfoot, a cether that had once worked here.

OOC: As this is a location thread, I will leave it to all visitors to time-stamp their own posts accordingly.

Here are the NPCs floating around the building that I know of:

Aediles NPCs: (controlled by Striker)

Name: Gandan
Race: Halfling
Gender:
Job: He is responsible for directing people to the correct person within the office. He also fancies helping people out if he can, however he never oversteps his bounds.

Name: Risna
Race: Human
Gender: Male
Job: General inquiries about the city.

Name: Mayal
Race: Human
Gender: Female
Job: Housing and Building.

Name: Gena’ra
Race: Lionoid
Gender: Male
Job: Would be considered ‘Senior’ Aedile and is entrusted to take care of diplomatic situations as well as severally sensitive ones despite he seemingly harsh attitude.

* * * * *

House Moonstar NPCs:

Name: Looie
Race: Lutran
Gender: Male
Job: Prefect of Paxia.

[Halftpint Naddas]

27th Immanis, Spring, Era XIV pf

Morning
The door opened and a small halfling walked- a smile on his face and a bounce in his step. He gave a big ol' hello wave to his fellow cether Gandan.

"Serale cousin! This is fabulous weather-ain't it? Reminds me of the pipeweed farm my family owns in the Sherian! Me pops and I would often be planting in brisk brightenings like this." Halftpint reflected warmly upon his father. A good cether with a bossy wife. "I'm here to see the Lord Protector, he's been expecting me. Care to point me in the way?" Halfie smiled, winked and continued to Roland's spare corner office.

"Lord Moonstar?" He asked while he picked his way through the rubble and into the office. What a desk! Halftpint thought. "Serale! It's Halftpint Naddas of Aelyria Prime!"

[Adelyn Weiss]

2nd brightening of Ponutis, in the Season of Spring
Era II of the Celestine Mandate
Era XIV Post Fractum
The Second Era of the Regency of Milo L'Evienne.

After the trade proposition in Mileswick, Adelyn had returned to Paxia for a short while before decidedly going to her one-room abode in Nexus Prime, to sell it. Traveling back and forth between all of Arium, and even Tearsfall, had been a delightful experience, and one Adelyn was not soon to forget. Even so, Adelyn was ready to fully return to Paxia to help her people rebuild, reconstruct, and certainly build anew. She had made up her mind in the previous month to help Paxians, and Roland, as well, by taking up the position of Assistant Aedile. No doubt Adelyn would have taken up the position of Aedile, but she would rather have some experience before making any rash decisions. Of course, she knew there was an Assistant Aedile already in the position, but they were likely tired, and could use with a break.

Roland had mentioned at his speech to Paxia that his offices would be located in an empty corner space of the Aedile's office. Adelyn walked resolutely to Roland's part of the office, waving at Gandan as she did so. Many of the people in the offices now recognized Adelyn as she had been alongside Roland at his speech, and on his travels, offering to take letters and so on. She smiled sincerely, and kept walking until she reached Roland's office.

"Serale, Roland," the girl waved at him, "I have come to offer my official assistance, finally!"

[Roland Moonstar]

Adelyn
Roland nodded at Adelyn. "Yes, yes, that is very good news indeed! Thank you for the offer. Of course, I accept it at once."

He had Adelyn sit down, and then he went over her pay and benefits with her, talking about Paxia's dental plan and how she should put a few crowns aside each week in case of an emergency; he reviewed with her the Aedile's schedule, as well as what her own hours and work days would be: for example, she would be off every Aslanica. Roland went over her pension and annuity, what to do if she was ever too sick to come to work on a particular day, how to earn vacation time, and the other such various nuts and bolts a new employee needs to hear.

Roland gave Adelyn a pamphlet he had written up on what he personally expected of all Paxian city employees in terms of courtesy, promptness, integrity and professionalism.

Once that was all done, he put his hands on his hips. "You are lucky that we have someone like Gena'ra for you to learn from. The Katta is a good man, and you should have no problem passing your month of probation." He raised a hand. "I learned in Tearsfall that all new employees are very eager their first cycle, and it's impossible to really judge anyone. So the probation period here is a month. At that point, you will have a meeting with Gena'ra, and he will give you his honest analysis and feedback.

But he's not the only one making a decision. You should be spending that month making sure that this is what you want to do. An Aedile's office has many different position: some people handle real estate transactions, some assess taxes, some design landscapes, some deal in treaties and trades. An Aedile is expected to know all of this, but as an assistant you can specialize in the field of your choice. Mayal, for example, is a good person but she really only enjoys the housing and building aspect of the job, and there she may forever be. You may follow her example, or emulate Gene'ra's ambition."

[Roland Moonstar]

Halfpint
Roland didn't pay any attention to the conversation of the two cethers: perhaps he was busy, or perhaps he feared that when two or more cethers got together some old man with a pointy hat would appear, start blowing smoke rings, and send them all off to throw a ring down a volcano. It had happened to him before.

Today, however, Roland smiled affably at Halfpint, nodding at the cether as he came in.
"Just call me Roland. This is not the Rainbow Citadel." He offered a handshake to Halfpint, then waited for the man to sit down.

He offered Halfpint some refreshments, then leaned forward.

"I remember you. The fellow I met at the gates. And I know you were at my speech. Well, so what can I do for you today? I assume you wish to discuss your future in Paxia. Good. Good. Go on, please."

[Duncan Sythe]

Second Cycle of Immanis in Spring, After Roland's Grand Speech

“Serale Roland, I believe we met before in Diana with Mister Linvail?”

Said the speaker. The speaker did not need to give a name, his identity was...obvious enough. Someone like Duncan Sythe had his own degree of infamy if not fame. More rumours and swirls and suspicion piled upon suspicion, but a certain reputation at the very least. Zerdargia, Malice. Those weren't even remotely associated but there would be others. Medonia, the Dagger thieves, contact with all manner of important and unimportant people...and most of all the talents. Mages who were not scholars got noticed.

It was not however to say that he'd made his entrance particularly spectacularly. Dressed in the same well tailored but simple browns he'd worn to the meeting Duncan cut an imposing presence by dint of attitude and sheer self confidence rather than anything flashy in his dress. It was the simplicity that merely added to it. He didn't need to make a show, he didn't want to either. Brown coat, brown breeches, sword belt and sword. All beneath a heavy gray cloak, topped off with a silken green cravat tucked into his white silk tunic at his neck.

Upon arriving at the door he'd opened it with a half-gloved hand, face covered by a wide brimmed brown hat, then proceeded to remove said hat in his left hand to reveal his real, pock marked, blue eyed and black haired face before speaking. Now though he simply waited for Roland to respond with whatever the man had to say, before he gave his reasons for being here.

[Adelyn Weiss]

Adelyn absolutely beamed, "I can't possibly let you take the credit for everything, Roland!" She laughed, "You know what I mean. It's difficult to have you doing so much at once. You are only one man, after all. I'm glad to help out around Paxia."

She sat down, looking through the pamphlet casually, more so listening to Roland's expectations and the standards of employment in Paxia, along with its benefits. She nodded, making certain to make note of her day off and the pay. She nodded repeatedly, taking this information very seriously.

Adelyn blushed a bit, "I would expect no less from Gena'ra than an honest analysis of my work done during my probation period as an employee under him. Like Gena'ra I want to master all the skills and do as best I can for Paxia. You've no idea how much it means to finally be able to serve my home, especially under such conditions.

"For now, I would like to focus my efforts in designing some wonderful new landscapes for Paxia, or reconstructing old ones. Real estate should start getting big soon, too, I expect..." Adelyn's voice drifted off, in thought.

"Since you have all this experience, how long will it take to repopulate Paxia back to the way it was prior to the attacks? Also, where should my office be located? -- In this building, too?" the girl still had a few questions, but decided to let Roland answer these before asking more.

[Roland Moonstar]

Roland shrugged. "I don't know that you get one. Assistants usually just get a nameplate at the front counter and use one of the desks in the clerical pool."

He checked his notes. "By the way, in case I wasn't clear earlier. It's 40 crowns per cycle while you're on probation. Yes, that's low, but it's only for the first month. Never again will you have it this rough: it's all part of paying your dues."

Roland pointed out something in the papers. "And here's something I'm instituting as far as vacation: one paid day a month, plus holidays, and one sick day every two months."

As to her last question, he only shook his head sadly. "That depends on Paxia. There are market forces at work in any province that shape things: Tearsfall had the advantage of Aeri Sarista, who went out of her way to help the province. We don't have any orcs that similarly feel guilty and want to give us restitution. But hopefully, it will all happen sooner rather than later."

[Roland Moonstar]

Duncan

"Serale. Come on in, I've been expecting you." The gods themselves would not know if Roland was referring to the list of Paxian homeowners open on the desk in front of him, or if he was making an in-joke about mysticism. Presumably the former, though.

Should a reveal spell be cast, his first thought about the reference to the City of Diana was 'doesn't this guy owe me a statue?' Roland had paid a few hundred crowns for it and was still waiting for it. He had given Looie precise instructions on picking it up, and didn't understand what happened to it.

Roland had no other opinion on the man in his office otherwise. He knew of him by reputation, and was profiicent enough in his own ablities to truly awe and respect the powers of the man in front of him, the way only a person who knows how to palm a coin can truly appreciate watching someone be sawed in half. He assumed that anyone called 'Imperial' mage would know of his own connections to Lysandria, Milo, Ogabe, and Godah, and would in any event remember that Roland had risked his own life to keep Jaedaxia from revolting, so he knew Duncan wasn't here about the speech, or anything Roland had done so he was here presumably to atone for not doing his share of casting Psionic Orbs and Bolts during the Orc War.

Roland did have a strong opinion on Kyle, as he had spoken to the man extensively, and had liked and respected the fellow a great deal: the fact that Kyle vouched for Duncan had a stronger influence on Roland's opinion than anything else. "I hope your friend is well. He's a good man. Please give him my regards.

Roland offered Duncan any refreshments he desired, and offered him a seat. There was a small bar on one wall, with both water and liquors and spirits, and on top of that was a plate of fruits and cheeses. Roland himself only drank water now.

He looked different than he had back in Diana. Much like his office, he was more spartan in his appearance. Thinner. Gone was all the claptrap from his office in Diana, and gone was all signs of the man who had let the Legion of Justice lapse into chaos. In fact, even had Duncan not been a mystic, his memory of that time compared to now would show a natural evolution in the man in front of him. Roland had learned that you could either accomplish things, or have meetings and wait for a consenus. He had chosen the path of doing things, of finishing what he had started.

He smiled affably at Duncan. "How are you? The concern was genuine: Roland's true power, beyond whatever he accrued from trinkets, arcana, and deities, was that he cared. A man would do far more for a pat on the back and sincere compliment than he would for the strongest Alliance spell.

He said nothing else, and waited for Duncan to speak. The fellow was a landowner in Paxia, with full right to join the City Council should he chose to do so, and had every legal right to speak his peace on matters concerning Paxia.

[Duncan Sythe]

Unfortunately Roland was mistaken if he would get an apology from Duncan Sythe. It was not to say Duncan did not have his own momentary recriminations over being elsewhere during the siege of Paxia but then his travels had been extensive and somewhat fruitless...and entirely in the best interests of the Empire. So slapping himself around the face for something he couldn't have known about at the time was entirely counter productive to him. Plus it was arrogance in the extreme to say he was responsible for the place falling apart. Paxia had possessed Mages for Jalat's sake! He'd even shocked a considerable number when someone had thrown assassin-mages at him at the academy but he'd met them and they weren't idiots. So whatever had happened had obviously either inconvenienced them, or scared them off. Thus his own departure was, well...so far not something anyone had commented on openly.

In the end he doubted anyone would either, just because he had an estate in Paxia didn't mean he lived there and whilst he was doing his best to help now, anyone who 'expected' anything of Duncan Sythe was as usual in for a surprise. Still, with no reveal spells cast and Duncan's only contribution to the room's arcane content being to sit comfortably in Clara as he usually did candlemark in and candlemark out anyway, he regarded Roland with the eyes of a supreme skeptic. He'd watched the speech and, to Roland's credit, had been satisfied enough with it that he thought Roland generally meant well, but at the same time as in most such speeches the lack of detail haunted him.

Mostly in a 'So your going to pay for this all using what? And staff the legion using what? And rebuild the city using what?' way. Thus as Duncan divested himself of his cloak over the back of a chair and sat down, popping the hat on a nearby windowsill.

“I'll tell him.” Was the first thing he said, eyes flickering around the room a moment and staying on the window and the view of the shattered city beyond. “As to how I am.” In the light of the window shadows were cast across Duncan's face as he turned back and smiled tightly at Roland.

“As well as I ever am Roland Moonstar. The state of the Empire is of course not as I necessarily would desire it. But then I am no more a God than you are. Still, it doesn't prevent me of aiding people now and again in some small way.”

An opening, a preface as he lent back in his chair so as to face Roland completely, gathering calloused, mud stained fingers together, torn half-gloves meeting and revealing now only worn knuckles smeared with the wear of travel. He didn't look like a mage with that pock marked face and the look of hardened steel more at home on a soldiers or an embittered sword for hire, but then that was just part of who he was.

“Paxia, however, is more what concerns me on this particular brightening.” Opening made, purpose confirmed, or was it? Who knew what Duncan ever really wanted. “More precisely, let me get entirely to the point. How you intend to fund your plans for re-building the city and the Falcon Legion, specifically the Falcon Legion since they also need a new leader and a very comprehensive re-arrangement on how exactly they defend the city...since apparently whoever was in charge last time either made a big mess or didn't know enough about his rights to keep autonomous from the fool in charge of the Legions.”

Big words coming from a former Imperial Minister but Duncan didn't pull punches and knew nothing he said here could be used against him in any meaningful way. He was contented to give Roland the blind, honest version and see what happened. He cocked his head to one side and detached one hand from another, his right to be precise and tilted it leather palm uppermost, revealing yet more dusty brown scuffed and worn with use.

“There are other matters but let is begin with that, and this. Presently the entire city staff consists of yourself and the Aedile's support staff. I'm not denying your political ability nor that of the good Katta, you both know more than me. But I freely offer my services if you feel they are in any way...useful. Although I do not have the time to take a full time office.”

With that the hand rejoined its associate in Duncan's lap and he lent back and waited, the black haired, weary eyed figure awaiting Roland's opinions.

[Roland Moonstar]

Roland listened to all that Duncan had to say. He did not interrupt, but merely listened, jotting down a point now and then; Duncan was perhaps one of the few people in the Empire-- the other being Karo-- who could out-talk Roland when push came to shove.

When Duncan was done, Roland merely nodded. "Well, small way or large way, if you are here to help Paxia, I appreciate it." He pondered how Duncan could best help, giving what he had said. "As you are a landowner here, I offer you a seat on the city council. A position that allows you instant access to myself, Gena'ra and the others should you have a question or comment that needs immediate resolution.

Plus, it has the advantage of suiting your peripatic lifestyle. An Aedile or Prefect is constrained by circumstances to remain in the city where he or she works; no one blinks if a councilman misses a meeting." He handed Duncan an application for a council seat, telling the fellow to sleep on it before making a decision one way or the other.

He shook his head at one comment, and decided to correct it. "Actually, the city staff is much larger than you might think. I have simply not gotten around to making the official announcement, but we have roughly a half-dozen new people coming in. I am giving them classes in law and politics and some cycles of on-the-job training: I thought it best to make sure no one washed out or quit before making the official announcement. But I'll give you an example: right here in this building Adelyn Weiss is being trained, and elsewhere I have a trio of deputies who will be competing to be either Prefect or Constable. Four, if Nyd comes to Paxia." He spent a few minutes going over the various potential appointments: not that he thought Pirvan actually cared about or knew any of the names mentioned, merely to show that at least the political infrastructure was back in place. He ended by discussing Halfpint the Cether.

Once Roland felt that Duncan was satisfied on that score, he moved on to the Falcon Legion. "You have raised two separate, though slightly intertwined issues.
Three, actually, though I am not as concerned with autonomy as my speech may have led anyone to believe. So let us leave that point alone for the time being.

Your first point concerns the matter of leadership. I completely agree that Provost Elsdragon rather made a hash of the military matters here. Feel free to suggest to him that he spend a year travelling through the heartland of the Xet."

Roland looked down and rifled through a sheaf of papers. "On this point I agree with you, in any event, regardless of who was at fault. I have taken the liberty of contacting the Crimsons Tigers, Sapphire Guard, and West Warden. Mercenaries and volunteers will soon be arriving. We will soon have military expertise enough, though more is always welcome." He reviewed his plans to also contact some of the mercenary bands already floating around Arium, the ones currently orc-hunting. "Jenius De Merchante actually helped Paxia in this one way, which I assume was accidental and unintentional: he trumpeted our lack of military, and so now we do have the ability to pick and chose mercs and soldiers to refill the ranks of the Falcon Legion."

Roland took out another ledger, and opened it to the current page. "I thought I explained the financing in detail in my speech. It went on for what seemed like a cycle, so it is not like I deliberately skimped over any point. At any rate, the gist of my plan is to get commerce and trade in Paxia flowing again. In this regard, I am acting as Trade Minister, and have already visited a half-dozen cities. Goods and surpluses will soon be flowing in: with increased trade comes increase profits and more crowns in our coffers."

He let out a deep sigh. "This will work, in the long run. In the short run, I am planning on hitting up all my personal friends and relations. No one has been supporting Paxia, not Jenius, not Milo, not Hsin, not anyone. But I am fortunate to have befriended the half-dozen or so men and women who have become Governors and Consuls. Sharinya, Aeri, Palacrisis. . . surely among these people I will find one province with surplus enough to spare us some largesse, as Jenius appears to be the one Governor not even an alliance spell can penetrate. Between my own relations such as Stephan, and these people, I will in a few seasons have enough to keep Paxia afloat, even if the city itself is basically a subsidized employee of House Moonstar."

He smiled at Duncan. "But you are neither Hsin nor Jenius, so you're not here to review the books. You are pondering whether to help Paxia out, perhaps financially, perhaps in some other way. I could use some short-term financing, and I mention what I have said to reassure you that you would not be throwing your crowns down the drain, but would in fact be getting most, if not all, of your investment back, with interest.

If no one else will, then Aeri will eventually come to our aid, for she is naturally altrusitic anyway, but I have personally earned her trust and camraderie: she has seen me invigorate an entire province, and know of my part during the rebuilding of Tearsfall. But that aid may be cycles or months away, depending on intraprovincial commerce and transportation, and the budget of Carmelyn Province."

Roland showed Pirvan the other areas of income he expected Paxia to have, revenues from outlying villages that had not been harmed, taxes, commerce from the undamaged fleet, the deals he had already made with other cities, profits from travel and tourism, and so forth. Roland would set up toll-booths along every road between here and Nexus Prime if he thought it would help Paxia. And of course, though this point came out almost as an afterthought, he was ready to sink 50,000 or 100,000 crowns of his own life savings into Paxia, so sure he was that it would someday be the Merchant capital of Alleria that it had once been. But Roland asked no one to do what he himself would not, so if Duncan was truly pondering a grant or loan towards Paxia, he deserved to know that he was not alone.

[Duncan Sythe]

Duncan didn't comment on the matter of instant access, since he usually managed to access anything he wanted instantly even without being given such access. That was neither here nor there as he folded the application away. He'd finish the thing of course just for the sake of having another title to throw around but whether he'd ever turn up was another matter entirely. The very fact he usually got what he wanted meant that 'debating' wasn't usually in his resume.

When it came to appointments then Duncan, again, found himself holding his tongue. He was the type who usually said 'see how people go' although he made a note when Roland finished – a mental one since he didn't have Roland's luxury of pen and parchment – to ask him about the specific names for the Prefect and the Constable, or more precisely to have them contact him at his estate once they were appointed, for there was something he did have some degree of expertise in.

Ticking another box, just as Roland had it seemed they'd reached the military and Duncan continued to listen to Roland, agreeing with him in principle on Elsdragon but, having never met the man, withholding the hangman's metaphorical noose for him until such a brightening as he did, or the man made his incompetence patently obvious. In the meanwhile it seemed a visit to the Imperial Guard may be in order at some point...or may not.

He did speak up and make one point when Roland raised the specter of mercenaries though.

“I'd warn you that mercenaries are far from the most reliable to fill up a garrison Roland and suggest perhaps you consider some kind of...integration program to tailor the skills of the men who volunteer to the new Falcon Legion. Depending of course how they are to be equipped and organized and what their brief will be.”

That said, he moved on...or more suitably 'listened on'. He would have spoken up again when Roland came to trade...had he not added in the short run to cover the point Duncan hadn't seen Roland explain in his speech on the future of Paxian trade: How he planned to finance the initial buying of enough items and equipment to generate some produce to trade.

Instead he let the enigmatic Lord Protector finish his explanations and watched with the eye of someone who knew something of business, if not the vastly worldly amount of a man like Hsin Zhou, as Roland laid out projections and possibilities. Then, of course, came the crunch. Leaning back from his close examination of paperwork Duncan linked his hands together again and finally spoke on matters of finance and, crucially, 'where on Telath was Roland going to get his money'.

For provinces were not poor, Duncan was well aware of this and he was in no position to fund on the level of Palacrisis or any other Governor. But at the same time there was a difference between money now and money when the big convoy of wagons gets here.... which he was sure Roland appreciated.

“To begin with...Roland. I will not be giving the city money in the form of a gift, I cannot afford to, despite the considerable personal wealth I possess by the standards of most... I am well aware that I may need it for one reason or another, so I cannot afford to part with it for no return, nor am I the type of man to part with it on the basis that i will receive a certain percentage or amount at some unknown future date.”

Duncan shook his head and waved a hand, dismissing the idea.

“Instead I propose to invest directly. You of course being in the best position to tell me what investment the city is most in need of at the present time and where you would appreciate it built the most. Be that an import/export business or a tavern or even an academy. The point is I have enough money for one, perhaps two buildings depending on size, to have the building produced and staffed and a business begun. The question is Roland, what do you want me to build?”

And there it was laid on the table, he'd put aside the military and security issues for now and turn to finance, what did Roland want in Paxia? This was not to say he wasn't willing to partner the man in such an endevour or seek other investors, but he would not just hand the money over....no, Duncan preferred to do things himself.

[Roland Moonstar]

OOC: asterisks are places where Roland pauses to give Duncan a chance to reply and comment.

IC:

Roland nodded. He and Duncan appeared to be on the same wavelength for the moment on most items. "Deputies? Hmm.

Of course there may be others who apply, some here who fail out. But right now I'm looking at Arsenios, Medaerus, and Josephine."

* *

He called over the russet-furred otter who was currently dressed in a tiny guard's
uniform. "And Looie is already a trained Deputy, a Marshall and acted as Justicar with legal expertise enough to impress Alicia Gil'Dae. Though I rather abuse and overwork him, his true credentials are in fact as a deputy; he had acquired martial, law and political experience long before we ever met. You have my leave to meet with him right away if there's something you need to discuss sooner rather than later."

Looie looked at Duncan, but said nothing; he was in beefeater mode and took his guard duty as seriously as any watchdog might.

* * *

Roland noted the caution about mercenaries. He allowed as he agreed with it, and had come up with what he hoped was a unique solution: he was going to use former Falcon Legion veterans, men know in their forties and fifties, men too old to have fought the orcs themselves. These men, such as Jasper the gate guard, would be put in charge of the intergration and recruitment process, and would make sure there were three or four native sons for every mercenary.

He also planned on hiring a mage who would be disguised as a bard and who did nothing but give perpetual alliance spells on the troops, until they were sufficiently brainwashed so that the c