Future Plans

Writers: Eimi, Suzee
Date Posted: 31st March 2014

Characters: Bryvin, Morin
Description: The Lord Holder and his Steward hatch some plans
Location: Sunstone Seahold
Date: month 5, day 23 of Turn 7
Notes: Lord Morin was written by Eimi before she took an unexpected
leave of absence. This post was unsigned but approved by the Council
for posting to the list due to its importance.

Bryvin

Bryvin hurried down the corridor. He'd ridden hard to get here as
quickly as possible and had only spent a very few hours holed up
during Fall in the wayside shelter. In his pocket he had the tiny bit
of proof his pet miner had brought him and he was bound toward Morin's
office to deliver it.

He knocked on the door jam as the door itself was ajar. "My Lord?"

"Come," the Lord Holder called, expecting to be handed another report
from the ground crews in the outlying areas, but was surprised instead
to see his Steward. "Back so soon?"

"Better results than expected," he said cryptically and closed the
door. Looking around the room to make sure there was no one else
there, he walked to Morins desk and deposited four gem quality colored
crystals in front of the Lord.

Morin's brow furrowed a bit as he picked up one and held it up to catch
the light from the window. It was utterly colorless. Picking up
another, he could see a yellowish hue that turned almost brown towards
the tip. "Topaz?" he asked, holding a third up to the light, noticing a
more orange tinge.

"Yes," he leaned against the desk with a half smile. "Looks like a
rich deposit right on the edge of Xelfin's lands."

The Lord Holder's eyes flicked over to the Bryvin's at the sound of the
name. "Xelfin's? Where exactly?"

"On the north side of the river just west of River Bend's territory."
Bryvin smiled at Morin.

The smile was not exactly returned. "In the disputed boundary."
Technically, not even in their territory. Until that dispute was
settled, no large scale operations of any kind could be undertaken. If
they started full-scale prospecting, that would draw attention to the
area, and Xelfin would demand arbitration, and his claim was a bit
stronger if it truly came down to it. Sunstone could put in all the
work and lose everything.

"Yes," Bryvin said carefully, But there were several disputed
boundaries that they were busily negotiating. The southern one seemed
to be resolving in their favor. The mountain range and rivers put a
natural cushion between Sunstone and her nearest neighbor to the
south. So that border eased south leaving Sunstone in possession of
some very fine farmland and citrus groves.

"It may be time to discuss your options."

"Discuss my options..." Morin knew exactly what his Steward was
alluding to. His lips puckered as he weighed that possibility. Slowly,
he began to shake his head. "Not yet. Before I even think about
discussing anything, I want to know that what else is there. So far we
have a couple pretty crystals only." Expensive crystals, but still, he
wanted to know exactly what he was putting out for. "Topaz forms around
granite. Masons love granite for carving and building. Bakers love
granite for working on. Captains love granite because they can use it
for ballast in their ships and sell it for a profit. And where there's
granite, there could also be things like beyrl or zircons. We need to
know what's on that mountain, and how we can get it from the mountain to
the sea. In the mean time, I'll think about my options. But I want to
make sure it's worth it."

Bryvin, of course, understood. The Lord Holder had a rather large
bargaining chip but it could only be used once and the gain had to be
worth the price.

"How much do you wish to spend on finding out." Bryvin knew they
didn't want to bring attention to the area with a large operation but
if they needed to actually mine into the area there would be only a
short time frame before the word got out. But if he could effectively
bribe his crew he would be able to extend that time somewhat.

"As little as possible, but as much as it takes." This was not the only
adjustment that needed to made while they were in the process of
solidifying their border, but it could be the biggest and more lucrative
one. If that mountain's resources were as rich as his Steward seemed to
think the were. "I don't want to go down that road again, Bryvin,
unless it will benefit this Hold greatly. Find out for me."

"Yes sir," the Steward nodded. He had other ways of bribing or
coercing the behavior he wanted without spending Morin's money for
anything more than the actual costs of the discovery itself. Then he
had a thought. "You know, with that portion of the river used by
boats, we _could_ erect a travel station on our side. With a dock in
addition to the cover in the event someone were to be caught out
during a Fall. This could provide a plausible cover for whatever we're
doing on the other bank. Don't you think?"

Morin slowly nodded as he thought about the suggestion. "Yes..." he
said with a drawn out affirmation. Finally with more conviction, having
weighed the merits in his mind, "Yes, that's a good idea. Let's do
that. We could use a travel station there either way. Talk to a Master
Builder and get some plans drawn up. I want to see them before you
start work."

"Alright," Bryvin nodded. He knew exactly which Master he would
approach for this project. He stroked his chin in thought a moment
longer."Didn't we want to connect from our main northern land route up
toward Xelfin's southeastern border? I know you had other priorities
last time we visited the subject, but a little additional positive
buzz could serve to further blur our real reasons for the construction
project, and get the runners behind it."

"Construction of a legitimately needed new structure to hide the
building of others?" Morin nodded, slowly. "Well have to pick out
post-Threadfall ground crews carefully." Luckily dragonriders didn't pay
much mind to the goings on in a Hold.

"Yes," he agreed. "But I think we have the right mix available for
just that purpose."

"All right, well, let's not get ahead of ourselves. Find out what else
is in the area. I don't want to go all through this for a topaz mine
that dries up in a Turn or two. We need more." Morin gave him a nod of
dismissal, knowing there was nothing more that could be discussed on the
topic until answers were found. Besides, they had ground crew reports
due any moment, and the real possibility of Thread superseded all else.

"Yes sir," Bryvin gave a brief nod and with a rather enigmatic smile
turned on his heel and went to his own office to start in motion the
appropriate plans based on the Lord's instructions.

Last updated on the April 4th 2014

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