The Establishment of The Exchange

"That's great. I take it you are putting together an expedition then?"

"Oh well, you know me and my situation, so uhm, honestly..." she makes a bit of a face. "No, I don't have the money to hire proper staff so if I went I'd be going by myself with the tools I have and I'm not sure I want to, too dangerous you know? Especially with the possibility of old traps or monsters."

"You know, I happen to know a group of adventurers. If we could scrounge up some compensation I bet they would be willing to help us out."

A tall man appears beside the table. He looks down at Kolson and her sister, them smiles softly.

"I am so sorry to interrupt. You two look like you are having a good time."

He fixes the woman a moment.

"You know, mister Kolson, it is not prudent to go alone to a restaurant to meet your sister. It exposes your family to danger. Especially since not so long ago, you were an enemy of all civilized nations. That is quite a feat to clear your name in such a short time. But it doesn't mean you should be reckless, as you are now. Zeiss was right to ask that I come put things in order.

He smiles at the young mage.

"I will have to ask Bonebreaker to send for an escort next time."

"Who are you supposed to be? And how do you know Zeiss?"

"Zeiss did not tell you he sent word for me? That's quite like him, just doing his own thing and participating to the group activities when it is required of him. You know how difficult it is to talk to him? I am sure you do. But he is quite loyal. You should thank him when he gets back."

He examines discreetly his surroundings. Then takes a chair to sit down to the table.

"I am so sorry to intrude. Your sister is quite beautiful. Is she single? Married? Kids?"

He smiles again, amused.

Not amused in the least, Kolson deadpans, "You're kind of a creep aren't you?"

Sareth keeps smiling, but more softly this time.

"And you are an idiot mister Kolson. There is nothing wrong with that, we are all idiots after all, to some degrees or another. Some more than others. You are in the subcategory of the ignorants. If I wanted to destroy your little organization, the Exchange you call it, right? Well, if I wanted to destroy it to get rid of a competitor, I would put pressure on the members of the family of the people in charge. You are a member of this Council of yours. And you just came in a restaurant, with no one to protect you, to talk to your sister."

He turns to the woman.

"Do not worry miss. You have no reason to be afraid. I will make sure you and your family have the best protection. The Exchange is quite small for now and nobody sees it as a real threat. That gives me time to do my job."

He looks around.

"Is this a good restaurant? I might come here someday and I would prefer to know if they serve their soups with Banderling fur."

Not missing a beat, Kolson says, "It's an excellent restaurant, Creep. I recommend any of the rolls with crab. Here, why don't you join us. The tea is absolutely divine. In fact, I invite you to regale us with more tales of my supposed ignorance while you continue to not introduce yourself.

Oh and make it good. I'm trying to think of a reason why I shouldn't burn you to ash for scaring my sister. Go on, tell me."

He thunks his Orb of Firerend on the table with his right hand, to show that he is serious.

Tia has remained silent this whole time, but you can tell there is fear lingering behind her eyes. The entire concept of the Exchange worries her, knowing her brother's life is in danger has not helped things.

"Because you would be charged with murder. There are many witnesses in this restaurant."

Like a kid, he looks around.

"And I am a poor traveler who just came to visit Holtburg and talk to a man who suddenly decided to kill me. Or hurt me, whatever you prefer. Not really nice of you. And as I recall, you were recently discharged with incitement of war. It would be a shame to have to explain yourself to the authorities for burning a man."

Sareth serves himself a glass of water.

"You are an idiot. As we all are. But with me as an ally, I am sure we will do wonders. Our stupidity will shrink and clouds will follow our will. My name is Sareth, if you really wish to know. Not that it is really important, since this name means nothing to you. What might matters to you is to know that Zeiss is my friend and I swore to protect him. He asked me to help you. And since he owes his freedom to you and your other companions, while you also expertly negociated for clearing your names, which is really impressive, I will share my talents with you."

He turns to his sister.

"I am sorry that you have to learn this the hard way. But as I said, do not worry for his life. If a sword tries to make a brochette out of him, I will stop it. Well, I will try. I'll do what I can. You know."

He smiles at her.

"You should be more concerned for the poor sods who might want to threaten him. They would not fare well. Having you at his side is also a plus. You must give a hard time to your brother, am I right?"

"If it means defending my sister from harm, I'll do whatever it takes. You best remember that." He puts the orb away. For now.

"I'm glad of your help, but could you please stop being so creepy? My sister is already pretty nervous about this whole thing."

"Creepy?"

He looks surprised.

"I am creepy?"

Sareth looks at Kolson with a strange expression.

"And I thought I was really charming. Oh frell. I will be at another table, spying on you, watching your every movement, making sure that your food is delicious while I eat my own dinner. I am really hungry."

He stands up, bows to the woman and leaves the table.

Spoiler:

"Sorry about that, Tia.

One meets the most interesting people when they are an adventuring business man, but they aren't all exactly the kind of people you want to take home to meet the family. Yes?"

"I, uh, guess? I suppose I haven't exactly experienced that myself, for uh, some odd reason."

"Yeah, you really should get out more." Kolson says with a smile.

The elven waitress finally comes and flashes them her best winning smile. "Hello. My name is Kat. I'll be serving you this afternoon."

She hands them both menus.

"Can I start you off with something to drink or an appetizer?"

(Let's fade out and fade back in to the end of the meal.)

Tia is leaning back in her seat, groaning. "I cannot believe I ate that much." She groans. "I am never, ever coming here with you on crab sale day or whatever again!"

Sareth sees a lycanthrope enter the restaurant and walk in direction of Kolson and his sister. He leaves his table to stop him.

“I am sorry sir... who might you be that you want to talk to mister Kolson? He is with his sister right now. And he really doesn’t appreciate people interrupting his family reunions.”

He observes the lycanthropes reaction.

"You say that every time, Tia. And we still order too much. Why won't you stop me?" teases Kolson. They have not noticed Tabran yet.

Kat the waitress drops off the check and the Aluvian roll for Mags.

Arch:

Sareth:
Tabran blinks at Sareth. "He's got a bodyguard now? That's hilarious. I'm just here on business, uh... you know, money business."

Kolson:
The meal is trivially expensive, even with how much you two ate, a mere 18 silver total, no tip included.

Sareth nods and smiles with pride to the mention of being a bodyguard.

"You must be Tabran then... Bonebreaker told me about you. Go talk to him then."

He goes back to his table.

Tabran frowns oddly at the Elf before wandering over to Kolson's booth. "Hey Kolson, been trying to track you down all morning. Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize you had company, apologies miss," he bows slightly.

"Tab! Good to see you. This is my little sister, Tiandra. Tiandra, this is my friend Tab. We met on my first adventure in Al-Erat back in Navarre."

Kolson pays for their lunch, leaving a 5 silver tip.

(Is this RP money or something we are actually tracking?)

(No tracking miniscule sums of money)

"So, Kolson, I had to take a little bit of a break from adventuring for just a bit... stress, y'know? But I want to be useful and Bonebreaker wasn't exactly helpful in that regard so I figured, y'know. By the way, nice bodyguard."

"Who Sareth? Yeah, he's alright. A bit creepy but he seems enthusiastic about his job. Wouldn't want to be his enemy that's for sure.

Anyway, I'm glad your here. I could use the help in all honesty," Kolson pulls out a bit of parchment and a pen and writes down the address of his office. He then hands it to Tab. "Here. Meet me there and we'll get to work. I'm just going to see Tia off first."