"That is good news. I think there is still the issue with the contract with the temple of Abadar open."
"Our cleric indicated she would draft one more appropriate and in your favor."
"I suppose you saw the ship go down this morning. Have you heard anything on that?"
"No. I'm sitting here in this fancy room and don't get much about what's happening around."
"So, when are you checking if that contract is ready and get the Church of Abadar to sign it? Hopefully it will contain the dimensions of the castle grounds, so I can tell the carpenters where to put up a fence. And tell the lady my best regards and that I'd appreciate if she sends someone to have me updated on what's going on."
"Which lady are you referring to?"
"Our preferred priest of the House of Flames."
"I will check with right now. See you later."
Menan and Variel enter the temple through their hidden entrance.
"Business."
"Wonderful to see you again. I hear you're working on getting Dearil into the right circles." Merileth tells after leading Menan and Arawyn to a private room.
"I have the contract ready. I suggest you have Dearil sign one copy of it, before you visit the temple. But you don't leave them the signed copy until they have signed it too. It's a simple deal. They recognize Dearil, we recognize them. It costs them nothing but saves them the trouble of us challenging their authority." She hands over two copies of the written contract.
The church of Abadar - who appointed itself to take over the duties of the Duke of
Seacreast in 4671AR in the act of renaming the town Seacrest to Abadon and therefore
is now the authority on these matters recognizes that Dearil Duke of Seacrest
- is the rightful heir of Duke Fallon of Seacrest
- rightfully bears the title Duke of Seacrest
- is recognized nobility of Abadon with all benefits that come with that
- owns the castle of the of Seacrest family and the surrounding premises covering
the area down to old town, leaving a 200 feet area as a buffer that is public,
1000 feet to the North, 1000 feet to the South and all the way up the hill to
the east.
This contract closes the executorship of the last will of Fallon Duke of Seacrest as far as the Church of Abadar is involved.
"The pleasure is mine."
Menan reads the contract with a smile.
"I expected nothing less than this from you. Dearil sends his best regards and requests you send someone to inform him of any updates on matters of importance."
Menan puts the contracts away and stands. Hopefully I will return with your signed copy.
"You can tell him there is nothing to know at the moment, but we're looking into it." Merileth replies.
Menan and Arawyn make their way back to the duke. Menan hands the contracts to Dearil for his signature. "The lady says there is no news at this time but they continue to work on it."
Dearil signs the contracts. "Sitting on my ass here doing nothing is very unsettling. I guess I need a network of informants of my own if that shall be my role for the future."
"Makes sense to me." Menan takes the contracts and puts them away. "Off to the temple. I will join you when I am finished with the high priest."
The Variels head to the Temple of Abadar and request the presence of the high priest.
"Please take a seat. I'll inform the High Priest of your request."
Menan gets to wait half an hour until Archibald comes again to bring him to the office of the high priest.
"Thank you, Archibald."
Menan looks at the high priest without expression of any sort.
The high priest sits in his office behind the large desk. He puts some paperwork aside and greets Menan.
"Welcome, please take a seat. You brought the contracts?" he inquires.
"Thank you. Yes, I did." Menan hands one of the contracts to the cleric as he takes a seat.
"That's... that's not the contract I gave you." the high priest objects.
"Correct. The Duke of Seacrest prepared this one for your signature."
The high priest ready through the contract carefully.
"The Duke? So far he hides behind you, someone who appeared in town only a few weeks ago. And from that nice parade yesterday we have seen that he isn't old enough to know from first hand experience what is needed to make these claims."
"And he didn't arrive with a large entourage. At least there were no obvious advisors, if it isn't you. So, if you'd be so kind to tell me, who is pulling the strings here?"
"At this time I am no more than a messenger, sir. That being said I believe I am a good third party without a dog in this show. I did witness the duke sign the contract before you. I did see the documentation that proves he is who he says he is. I did read Fallon's last will and testament. I have read this document as well. Pardon my interjection but I must say that the messenger is quite surprised by your reaction. I am willing to leave that observation here. I apologize for my ignorance on any motives for your position." Menan does not move but studies the man's face giving no expression himself.
"I don't question that the Duke is who he is. The signature matches the one given on your appointment as seneschal. There is also no question about the legitimacy of his claim to the money of the former duke we have in the account and the castle. I think whoever set this up is a bit generous towards the duke about the dimensions of the original premises, but within fair limits. And who would care about the title."
"But then there is this:" He reads the phrase from the paper. "is recognized nobility of Abadon with all benefits that come with that."
"There is a certain lack of specifics in that. This could mean nothing, or a lot. Nothing, as it only is a contract between the Church of Abadar and the duke and being noble doesn't get you anything from us as the church."
"Or someone could make false claims as we are also the administration to the towns finances. Therefore I'd like to know who is suggesting those clauses into the contract to negotiate directly what is meant and to remove any possible leeway in the interpretation of that."
"If you will notate the modifications to rule out any possible misunderstandings I will gladly return it to the duke. If you prefer to meet with him directly as opposed to a messenger I will relay that as well. Are those all of your concerns, sir?"
"There are a few more questions that come to mind. For example what the duke plans to do with the generously claimed land. What are his plans regarding his position as a noble. It looks like we're having the pleasure to meet him more often in the future. So why not have an introduction before signing contracts. Also I'd prefer a signing of the final contract in person."
"Please relay all these to the duke. He is always welcome here, or if he prefers a neutral location, we can also meet at the hotel he resides."
Menan stands and says "That I will do sir." He offers his hand out for the return of the contract.
The high priest returns the papers and tells his goodbye to Menan.
They keep an eye out for followers or anything out of the ordinary on the way to the inn.
Menan and Arawyn enter the Golden Knight. As he makes his way upstairs he tells the concierge "Three coffees. Quick please. And then a pot." Menan takes a seat opposite Dearil. He just looks at the duke.
Arawyn takes a seat in a corner away from the men. She looks out the window.
As Menan takes a seat and stares without even saying a greeting, Dearil sits up turns towards the elf and inquires "Are you trying to become creepy?"
Menan chuckles at the comment. "Your agreement, Duke." Menan hands both documents to Dearil.
"I see a certain lack of signatures. Care to elaborate?"
"I was able to get into his head a little bit by stating I was merely a messenger and had no dog in this show. I voiced my surprise at his reaction as an uninvolved third party. He is convinced there is someone behind you pulling your strings and is very curious as to who that may be. I ignored those questions and proceeded with business each time. He would like to meet with you in person and work out the verbiage he is uncomfortable with. Then sign the documents. I believe that should he meet you and trust you, things will go your way. Guess it is time for the duke to be a duke. I recommend the meeting take place here so he cannot make you wait for half an hour like I did."
"You mean the high priest of the church of Abadar, who is like one of the three most important people in town wasn't waiting for you to show up unannounced? The audacity!" Dearil laughs.
"But thanks for the warning. I'll send him a note with an invitation before to avoid that fate."
Dearil then inquires about the passages that are up for discussion.
Once that is done he changes the topic. "How are your preparations for the rave going? Under which banner will you ride?"
"The clause 'is recognized nobility of Abadon with all benefits that come with that.' was mentioned. His position on that was it does not matter who the church deems nobility but someone could make false claims as the temple is also the administration to the towns finances. He also showed an interest in your plans for the 'generously claimed land'."
"Arawyn and I are preparing at length on a daily basis. I was not aware of any banners being present."
"There might be some nobles riding themselves. There might be some nobles who have jockeys riding for them on their horses. If you haven't thought about it you should make it clear to Lady Adelaide that you're riding under your own banner."
"Otherwise you might end up under mine or Lady Adelaide's. And I don't think either would be a good fit."
"I will clear that up. Thank you. Is there anything else before I retire?"
"I don't think so. Have a nice day."
The Variels arrive at Lady Adelaide's property. Arawyn seeks out Adelaide.
Lady Adelaide does a few training laps with her horse around the track.
Still atop Dasher Arawyn asks Adelaide about the banners the duke mentioned. "What does he mean by that? What banners?"
Lady Adelaide slows down and replies. "I don't know. We don't do banners, that's more a thing for a knight's tournament."
"But every participant is listed with house, rider and horse."
"House Variel." Arawyn says with a smile.
Menan approaches on Dancer.
"You got a crest I could put on the board?"
Menan shows her his ring. "This is our family crest."
"Interesting. Do you have it on something you can leave with me?"
"I will need to procure that. Where would I be able to have that done?"
"My artist is in the forge these days. He creates the score boards with the different crests."