Chapter Five - A Trip to the Tar Pits

[Trogdor]

Some of the colonists seem relieved at the news from Daerith that there are allies on the way. But others still seem unconvinced, still under the sway of Lord Meravanchi's way of thinking.

"Pygmies and backward natives?" Lord M replies in a derisive tone. "I'm sure we'll all sleep better knowing that you haven't been wasting your time all these weeks. But at least we have a thunder lizard head to enjoy before the pirates attack. So your hunting expedition wasn't an entire waste. Perhaps the pirates will be so awed by the sight of the lizard's head that they'll all run away. We can but hope."

There's no denying that while Daerith is doing a good job in convincing some of the colonists of the worth of what the Sea Wyverns have been doing, a sizable portion of the colony still sides with Lord M.

[Vardaen]

Daerith laughs, "You think so little of our neighbors?" His eyes go directly to the obvious half-orc native standing in the back of the room. "I do not think so poorly of those that have lived and survived on this isle for generations upon generations before we came here. Careful who you insult Meravanchi, for the natives are skilled with poison, they know the land's secrets, control the volcanoes, and have sea canoes a plenty to use to board the enemy vessels, and will secure our rear and flanks which shall guarantee that we can never be surrounded. Not to mention the food and supplies they can bring us in trade and gold when all this is over."

He eyes a few of the people who seem to be siding with Meravanchi's "I hope your prejudices have not influenced the good sense of the people of Farshore. No, I'm sure it has not, these are wise people, independent people, come to escape such persecution from the mainland, and would never turn it around onto others. However Lord Meravanchi, if numerical superiority and all the things I mentioned are not enough for you, how about this?"

He motions for Chanur and Fin to bring it in. A set of floating disks are pushed into the chamber, a sail cloth covering them. Daerith yanks the cloth from it and reveals the great cache of masterwork weapons, glittering and sparkling in the light. "Our 'backwater' allies as you call them have given us this. You will find no collection of finer weapons on the Isle of Dread!"

[AdamDaBomb11]

The half-orc begins to move towards the group, his posture is like stone. He stops only a few feet from Daerith and stands there quietly for a quick moment. Suddenly the half-orc sticks out his open hand, "My name is Grask, and I would like to thank you for your kind words about those on this Isle." He makes sure that everyone else in the room can see the sincerity in his face, albeit on his half-orc face. "Maybe this will convince a few more" He whispers to the elf.

[Vardaen]

"Greeting Grask, a pleasure to meet you, and a pleasure still to have you as our ally here in Farshore. I welcome you and your tribes to this alliance and am more than grateful for you help in this fight, a fight that isn't yours, but that you have committed to with us." He pats the half orc on the shoulder and nods a solid thank you to the tribal half-orc.

[Trogdor]

"Touching," Lord Meravanchi says when Grask is welcomed by Daerith. "I'm sure we're all heartened by the fact that Mr. Grask will be fighting beside us. But that still doesn't put the defense of Farshore in a much better place." He gestures to the weapons. "I'm glad to see that your escapades in the jungle weren't a total waste of time. I'm sure that our militia will put these weapons to good service. And the natives are not entirely without worth either. As I've been saying for months, if we could just set them to work for us we could do both our people some good. We'd be able to focus their industry toward something beneficial, and they'd benefit from our civilizing influence. Everybody wins." He shrugs. "Perhaps now that you have them coming to help Farshore, we can start to get them to work for us. At least that will salvage some of the time you've wasted."

[Priest]

"Get them to work for us?" A voice booms from the back, from the sound of it taken aback by the Lords comments, "Lord Meravanchi, these people come to help us in our time of need. They do this not so they can work for us, but because they want the same thing we want... A safer community to live in." He begins to move towards the center of the room to be heard better, "our allies, or better yet our saviors, should be welcomed here with open arms as family and equals. They should be given the same opportunities as everyone else here, unless you wish to drive them off and fight our attackers without them." He finishes facing the party at the front, a huge warm smile on his face that seems to reassure and comfort.

[Vardaen]

"I think /Lord/ you are out of touch with the people you live among. We are in the frontier, not the noble courts of Sasserine. I know its not your sort of element, and you must feel rather out of place without your silken sheets and indentured servants, but eventually you will get used to the life of those that have chosen to come here to the wild for adventure and a new beginning. You will eventually learn to leave that sort of Holier than Thou attitude behind and begin to see all of those in Farshore as equals, and as our fine father here says, welcome the natives at friends and family." He then holds his hand up at Meravanchi , so he can't see his face, and to silence the man. He addresses the entire chamber, "The Sea Wyverns, under the banner of the Lavinia has brought you new allies, new weapons, supplies from our ship and powerful magics to repel those pirates that would take what YOU have worked so hard for. Your labor for your town will never be for the glory of some far away noble family, it is for you, for your wives your children your own honor! Tonight I would like to thank you all for the work you've done. After dinner, meet me in the tavern... I'm buying the first TWO rounds!!!!" He pumps his hand into the air, "FOR FARSHORE!"

OOC

Okay let's do it! I think that is enough and I swear if I don't Fireball MeMeravanchi it will be a miracle.

[Trogdor]

The reaction among the people is mixed. Some cheer right along with Daerith; others wrinkle their mouths and nod at the words of Lord Meravanchi. One thing is clear. The town is more divided that it originally seemed, and a surprising number of the colonists appear to be in Lord M's camp. Daerith can also see that it'll take more than a rousing speech to get the colonists to change their allegiance.

"Ah yes," Lord Meravanchi replies. "You've swept in after three years of ignoring us with a lot of flash and sparkle. But will it last or are you just here to take the fruits of our long labor back to Sasserine? No doubt you'll say that it needs to go because of the coming pirate attack. Funny, we never had trouble with pirates before you lot came around." There are some murmurs of agreement from the crowd.

"But you're right," he adds. "This is neither the time nor the place for such a debate. The proper place for debate is in a formal council meeting, which, I'm happy to say, will soon have a mayor present to guide the council to wise action."

GM

It becomes increasingly clear throughout this 'conversation' between Daerith and Lord Meravanchi that something between a quarter and a half of the town is more swayed by Lord M's comments. A similar portion of the crowd follows Daerith's words. But if you had to guess, you'd say that Lord M has the edge.

A lot of the colonists felt abandoned for three years, and it was Lord M who was here offering leadership. Some of them haven't forgotten that. You'll need to spend a week and make a Diplomacy check to sway some of the undecideds into Lavinia's camp.

[Vardaen]

Daerith spares only a moment in retort to Meravanchi as he moves to show some folks the fine weapons and shakes hands with supporters, "Seems you forget who it was that abandoned you Manthalay, not my family, not Lavina's no, it was a certain one who's name begins with M, but why belabor the point I'm sure Avner can explain the situation, since he had a front row seat for all that politicking back in Sasserine." He happens to have his Spire of Sasserine pin clear for all to see, marking him as a hero of the people. "Now if you are done puffing up your chest like some cormorant I have a town to save through good of fashioned hard work." He ignores anything else the man might have to say leaving the chamber but not before inviting the two new comers to join him and the Sea Wyverns.

[Trogdor]

The rest of the meeting goes far more smoothly. Daerith and Lord M let their conflict abate, though it clearly is not settled. Various townsfolk report. Apparently the work on the new towers has gone well. And the addition of the crew of the Sea Wyvern has been a welcome help. But there are still many areas that need attention. In particular, the captain of the guard says that the local militia is greatly in need of men and training. At this, Berek volunteers to come to their aid and see what a little dwarven training can do for the men.

After about an hour and a half of reports and discussion, the meeting breaks up and the Sea Wyverns return to the Vanderboren estate for dinner. There, Lavinia reveals that her campaign for lord mayor has not been going as well as she'd hoped. It seems that while there are a number of Vanderboren loyalists, there is also a sizable minority who have fallen under Meravanchi influence over the years of isolation. The key people are those who haven't a strong feeling one way or another. Apparently Avner has been making some headway in that task. Although a complete cad, the fellow can be charming when he wants to be. And he's charmed quite a few people already into becoming Meravanchi supporters.