City Council Meeting

The sky was a gorgeous blue and the sun a warm yellow as Beranhond, Darvin, and Nym headed off to the city council meeting. The city was bustling about them as the incoming merchant ships hurriedly unloaded parcels and barrels and other goods.
"This weather doesn't at all fit the trepidation of today." Beranhond commented, mostly to break up the silence that hovered around them. Nym nodded staring off north toward Silverymoon. Beranhond smiled, suspecting that he knew what was drawing her attention away this morning. Darvin just grunted, looking down as he marched alongside Beranhond.
"Everyone seems to be in a stupor today." Tigrisclawu commented as he trotted along next to them.
"Yes, that's bound to happen on such momentous days." Beranhond said sighing. "I thought you'd stay with Evelaen on the ship."
"Oh, no, that's going to be boring. He isn't her type at all, so there won't even be any teasing."
"Yeah, that's true. I do enjoy the newfound gravitas he has."
"You mean boring. He used to be so fun when he'd bury his head in an ale barrel."
"Stop it."

The city council had moved out of its now ruined city hall into one of the merchant houses that had been claimed my eminent domain. It was once the largest private dwelling in the city and now housed offices for the council, the protectorate, and the defense coalition. A wrought iron gate barred their way and Beranhond politely negotiated for their entrance. After a moment they were greeted and quickly rushed through the paperwork before being led downstairs to the meeting room that was once a concert hall. The guards guided them to the bottom step before the podium. The council took a moment to finish its paperwork, deliberately ignoring them before finally turning their attention to the front.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't Kilink, back from the dead." The lead elder, Ashaesa, said. "I'm impressed that Darvin decided to show his face in public. Our reports said that he only showed his face at night in the slums and whorehouses."
Beranhond glared upward at them before clearing his throat. "Personal attacks aside, we have come to discuss the agreement we made several years ago regarding the vessel named 'The Lady Narath'. We request a dismissal of the lien and a new license to combat the piracy so prevalent on the seas."
Beranhond paused for a moment, waiting for some kind of reaction.
"That's all? You all scatter to the wind, take up moorage in the harbor, destroy the vessel, and don't even really help the city at all and you just request a new license?"

City Council Meeting Summary

It is at this point that I would urge you to all start taking notes. I have started, because there is WAY too much information that I'm sharing here and in emails to you individually to be able to keep track of it without some sort of notes. :)

The group ate their exquisite salads, followed by a cheese plate with raw sheep's milk Roquefort Coccinelle and toatsted hazelnuts. The third course consisted of a Gorgonzola and Pancetta pasta dish with orecchiette, fresh red bell pepper, scallions, walnuts and gorgonzola cream sauce. The meal concluded with small trays of sea-salt caramels.

Small talk continued throughout the meal. Once the plates had been cleared, Georgia asked Jeeves <i>(the servant)</i> to invite Ragnar and Ceilith to join them.

Under his breath, Jeeves whispered, "My vast knowledge is wasted here!"

Once Ragnar and Ceilith had entered and taken their seats, the meeting and strategizing began.

Georgia begins by giving everyone a bit of the recent history, to make sure everyone has the same information to start from.

• Georgia begins the breakdown in a very businesslike manner. Ishmael and his false Lathanderian priests have done quite a lot of damage through both direct and indirect assaults on Waterdeep and Baldur's Gate. It's suspected that his lot are the reason for the silence from Candlekeep and Luskan.
  

Tarryn Kallis (formerly known as Councilwoman 2, sitting between Johan and Councilwoman 3)

• She explains that the City Council has not been idle, and has spent the past year working to formed an alliance with several other cities in the area, including Candlekeep, Scornubel, Athkatla, and Murann, as well as several smaller towns. They were starting to try to raise an army to defend themselves, but about six months ago, their emissary to Candlekeep stopped writing, and none of their attempts to contact them have been successful.

Evelia Hutchcraft (formerly known as Councilwoman 3, sitting on the end next to Councilwoman 2)

• Evelia adds that they she had even begun having some regular, if rather tense, discussions about mutual defense with the druids of the Moonshae Isles, but that Algor, the leader of the druids, had not been at the agreed upon meeting place for either of their last three meetings. The next meeting is scheduled for less than a week away, but they're beginning to lose hope.

Delilah Dynamo (formerly known as Councilwoman 1, sitting between Beranhond and Talathel)

• As if reciting a long-worn argument, Delilah brought up the undead and how to ensure they would be able to protect the city against them. She mentioned a city watch and armed guards patrolling both the city and the sewers, but warned that the watch was stretched extremely thin with all of the refugees pouring into the city. If an attack comes, they will have to cut back somewhere, and that means they will be exposing themselves to an attack somewhere. They just don't have the resources to do everything at once.
  

Abarrion Bort Garther Regginold Dartherson III (formerly known as Councilman 1, sitting between Talathel and Darvin)

• Abarrion stood up with a really big gesture to draw attention to himself and said, "Things are bad!" Having said his piece, he promptly sat down and tried to continue staying awake. 

At this point, please roleplay any questions and comments you'd like to make. This is the background for what's going on in the world, but it is up to you to decide where your responsibilities lie and what you want to do to change things.

The City Council

At 6:00, Beranhond, Darvin, Johan, Nym, and Talathel arrived at the City Hall, where they found Violet waiting for them.

"Dinner and the City Council are waiting inside," Violet told the group, "They have been growing nervous with all of the bad news that has been coming in recently about the other cities along the coast. I would recommend calming their fears as much as you can." 

As Violet led them into a modest sized building, past several artistic renderings of the city and the surrounding countryside, she continued, "The last they heard from any of you, you had just encountered Methasse at Waterdeep and were traveling to the Shaar to try to raise troops to help you fight him. They are hopeful that you've been successful, because they received word this last week that Methasse is considering attacking here next." 

The group came to a medium dining room with a door on each side. In the center of the room was a round table and fifteen chairs spaced equally around it. Each chair had a table setting with a generous salad, several bottles of assorted dressings, and a few small bowls of toppings for the salad. As they approached, a servant who had been standing the door opposite the one they entered from quickly ducked into the door she'd been standing next to. Several moments later, the servant reappeared and took up her place beside the door as the 7 members of the City Council came through the door one by one.

As the council came out, the members of the group that had been in Baldur's Gate at the beginning of their adventures recognized both Arngrim and Hring among the seven. Apparently, they had both become more of a political fixture in the city since the last time Kilink had visited.

One of the women that nobody in Kilink recognized raised her arms in greeting, "Welcome, Kilink. I see your group has changed a bit since last we met. I am Georgia Stourm, the leader of this council. Please, sit and join us for a dinner, and we will bring each other up to date and strategize how to stem the tide of the darkness that sweeps over the land." Georgia motioned everyone to sit, and the council spread out to put themselves next to and between the members of Kilink. 

The final seating arrangement was in this order: Georgia, Beranhond, Councilwoman 1, Talathel, Councilman 1, Darvin, Hring, Nym, Arngrim, Johan, Councilwoman 2, Councilwoman 3. 


Are you thinking you'd like to roleplay this dinner, or would you prefer to just do more of a rundown of important information and such? Please vote.