Elara stepped into the large building and stole a moment to take in the view. It was impressive. Very impressive. If the outside of the building was beautiful, the inside was breathtaking. The ceiling was vaulted high above her head. Elaborate tapestries adorned the walls, depicting an ideological rendition of Saltbrook's lengthy history; from the construction of the great aqueducts that spanned for kilometers across the massive settlement, to an artistic depiction of the war against the Volthen desert empire to the west, centuries prior.
The marble floor was polished to a shine that almost hurt the eyes as it reflected the midday sun. The room was painted in an ethereal prism of colors as light filtered through the immense ornate windowpanes. Dozens of chandeliers hung overhead, suspended by gilded chains as thick as her forearm. Each was the size of a small dwelling, and every one of them was as delicately crafted as the limits of the human hand allowed.
And yet, this scene struck Elara as an oddly apt metaphor for the ruling class of Saltbrook. Vast, dazzling, and yet completely hollow. The room was bare; pure vanity over function. It was designed to mesmerize and humble foreign dignitaries in an overwhelming show of wealth and luxury. A facade that hid the festering rot and putrefaction within.
Despite the enthralling sight, the building's foundations were slowly failing, years of neglect mounting within the unseen structure below. A faint whiff of mold lingered beyond the wall of perfumes and burnt incense. And the depiction of Saltbrook's great victory over the Volthen Empire was a complete lie. The only reason Saltbrook still stood was because Volthen's allies threatened to break their agreements. If Saltbrook, the prominent trade center of the Pilfira mainland, fell, it would collapse the continental economy. Something that still held true to this day.
Randell and his apprentice, Wendy, entered the building behind Elara and followed her as she made her way to the reception desk. The elegantly dressed woman seated at the desk offered them a quick glance before throwing them a forced customer service smile.
"How may I be of service to you, ma'am?" she asked in a voice that was clearly tired of offering the same phrase a dozen times a day.
"Hello. I am Elara Sinfreed, acting representative of the Sinfreed house. I was invited by Mistress Lia Gradaway to attend the hearing today. I have two guests with me. I assume that won't be a problem?"
Upon hearing that they weren't anyone of real importance, the receptionist's shoulders loosened slightly. She moved her attention to a small stack of papers she pulled out from one of the drawers. It took a minute for her to find the relevant information and verify, before finally nodding and giving them directions.
Elara and company swiftly marched down the hallway to the room the receptionist indicated. Glancing back, she couldn't help but feel another pang of annoyance. Of the three of them, she was the only one dressed for the formal event. Elara could overlook Wendy's attire, as she wasn't even supposed to be here, but Randell's casual attire was beyond unacceptable. He knew better. She wasn't sure if Randell had done it intentionally, as a statement of his aversion to all things political in nature, or if it was just plain apathy. She gritted her teeth. She had noticed the outfit long before they departed, of course, but fighting with him would achieve nothing. She had known him for far too long to believe differently. He wouldn't have changed, and she would just be left fuming with little to show for it.
As a lesser house, their invitation to the event was already tenuous at best. The only justification for their presence was due to a member of a primary house sponsoring them. Any indication that the Sinfreed house wasn't taking this honor seriously could be seen as a slap to the face of their sponsor.
A few minutes of travel later, they finally reached the room where the hearing and discussion was taking place. The room was designed like a moderate-sized amphitheater, seating around five hundred people at max capacity. The seats were divided up into eight sections; one for each of the seven primary noble households, and the final section for the city lord and his retinue. Wide, gently sloping stairs lined the area between the seats, acting as both a divider and allowing ease of movement between rows. The comfortable, luxury chairs had built-in tables, and open room to walk so servants could scurry through the wide aisles to deliver food to the seated nobles, move around paperwork, or pass along messages. At the foot of the rows there were the eight primary seats for the house representatives and city lord, all stationed in front of their designated sections. Large banners displaying the primary house crests, and one for the flag of the city itself, adorned the walls behind the seating, corresponding with the aforementioned sections. The entrance doorway opened up on the top-most row, leading to the center of the room seeming to be sunken into the floor.
People were still slowly trickling into the room, so there was some time to mingle and network a bit before the actual event started. The room buzzed with chatter, the click of fancy shoes on polished stone, and the rustle of papers. The aroma of conflicting artificial fragrances drowned the air, assaulting the senses of anyone unprepared. Private house guards lined up in strategic positions along the sides of the stairs, ready to deal with any potential threats. Scribes double checked and triple checked their materials, making sure they would have no problems keeping up with whatever was discussed.
The trio quickly located their sponsors, the House of Gradaway, and made their way over. They took a set of empty seats near the periphery, as was fitting of their station.
Elara took a moment to briefly bribe a random, nearby scribe for some spare writing utensils, and handed them to Wendy. The girl would need something to write with if she was to pose as a scribe. Her meek, bookish attitude fit the pretense perfectly, and would lessen any perceived insult from her crude garb looking so out of place.
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Randell plopped down right next to his student and continued his lecture from earlier. Elara couldn't help but feel grateful for that. With him sitting in the background, it only meant that he wasn't causing any issues without her supervision.
The aspiring level-fifteen diplomat glanced around the room, taking in the pre-meeting networking that was already taking place. The room was only about a third of the way full, so quite a few important names were still missing. But she did notice some familiar figures on the other side of the room.
Selles Summerdall and Bardol Montenwell, the representatives of their respective houses, were oddly chummy with each other. Chatting lightly in hushed tones. Elara didn't need to use any Skills to guess they would be teaming up. It made sense; those were the two houses that actually seemed to benefit from the existence of the portvale.
House Summerdall had heavy investments in the sea trade of the city. They owned hundreds of small businesses and lesser houses on and around the docks. They had a small fleet of trade ships under their banner, and placed heavy fees on trades landing on any dock they indirectly owned. It was said for ten crates of goods hauled into the city on ships, nine of them went through Summerdall.
More importantly, they were direct competitors of House Gradaway. If Summerdall dominated the sea trade of the city, Gradaway dominated the land. From caravans that stretched across the horizon, to the adventurers hired to escort them, Gradaway relied entirely on land trade with the neighboring nations to fuel their economy.
What did this mean in terms of the portvale? Well, monsters from the portvale were far more likely to attack an isolated caravan than a massive trade ship. Very few of the monsters that came through were even capable of swimming, let alone aquatic in nature. That meant that House Gradaway, with so much of their investments tied up in the caravan industry, was the primary target for said hungry creatures. That meant fewer traders were willing to take the land route to deliver their goods, and thus, Summerdall made more profits from their ships.
House Montenwell, they had a lot of their money tied up in mercenaries, adventurers, and arms manufacturing. More monsters meant more customers. Enough said.
Elara shook her head. Those two houses would be in direct competition, it would seem. While Elara knew she could get a good deal with Montenwell, selling info on how to kill monsters, they already had an in with Gradaway through Lia, and she didn't want to sacrifice a known ally for a potential one. Plus, she wasn't exactly keen on letting the portvale stick around, anyway.
She scanned her own section of the seats for any familiar faces to network with. She quickly spotted Lia sitting several rows down, and made her way over to the younger woman.
"Ah, Mistress Lia, it's a pleasure seeing you here."
The woman looked up, putting on a polite, expertly crafted artificial smile that matched Elara's own.
"Ah, Lady Sinfreed. I'm glad you were able to make it. You're looking lovely today."
"Thank you. I see you're looking as radiant as ever. We are truly grateful for your graciousness in inviting us."
Lia politely waved her off, motioning to the seat beside her.
"Oh, please. It was nothing. I'm happy to have you here, and I hope your input will be valuable. Please, sit."
Elara sat beside Lia and continued the pleasantries, but subtly changed the topic to more important matters.
"The Sinfreed house is most thankful for the opportunity. We know that this could be a great boon for both of our houses. We are excited to begin working with you, and to see how we can both help each other in the future."
Silver Tongue was a skill that Elara had taught herself and practiced thoroughly over the decades of her life politicking. It was a simple Skill, and with her high affinity, required far less Mana than one would think. It was a skill that subtly influenced those she spoke to. Not a command, but a gentle nudge. A simple mental suggestion that the words Elara were speaking were the right words the person needed to hear. As the middle-aged woman spoke, she starting letting the Mana ever-so-softly course through her words, shifting them as they left her lips.
"I know that our houses are experiencing some difficult times, but I hope this marks a new beginning for both of us. Raising the Sinfreed house up would only benefit us both. With house Sinfreed being such a dedicated house to our researches, the knowledge we provide can only push House Gradaway forward through the current trials. And if House Sinfreed is elevated, well, we'll be able to offer House Gradaway the support it needs. And you'll be elevated alongside, for bringing this alliance together."
Lia blinked a few times, and Elara knew that her Skill had landed. She seemed to perk up a bit at that, taking a moment to consider the implications.
"Yes," she said, "it would be a nice change of pace, wouldn't it? To have something good happen for once. I'm glad to have you and your house on our side."
"Indeed."
They continued the exchange for a while, before Elara finally nodded and stood up, taking the opportunity to leave while the mood was good. The last thing she wanted was to accidentally say the wrong thing and ruin the good impression she had given. Silver Tongue was a useful skill, but it was not infallible.
She bowed respectively. "Well, I should probably let you go. If it's alright, I'll contact you, soon, about our families' burgeoning alliance. I'll also send my brother, Master Randell, over to explain some more of what we can offer at a more opportune time. I'm sure you'll find it very useful, and enlightening."
Elara walked away, feeling good about the conversation. Lia seemed to have taken her words well, and now viewed the Sinfreed house in a far better light. That was good. It was a step in the right direction. Getting in the good graces of those in a primary house was always a high-risk gamble, but one that could pay off quite handsomely if done correctly.
By this point, the room was nearing capacity, and she suspected the event would start soon. Taking a glance back at her seat, she saw Randell still lecturing Wendy, but now there were other nobles from the Gradaway section sitting near them, clearly listening to whatever information Randell was spouting. She didn't understand most of what he talked about, but she couldn't deny he was intelligent. Grudgingly, she had to admit it was a good sign. It meant they were interested in the knowledge that the Sinfreed house had to offer, and that they were willing to hear them out. Even if his motives were curing his own boredom, it still benefited her goals, so she didn't interrupt as she took her own seat.
The hearing started soon after.
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