Skylerian Morningdew

In the gaming room of the Gilded Mirror, a young human man is playing a game of Twenty and One, where the simple aim is to get as close as possible to 21 - either below or above - from five cards; two hidden, three communal. His black curly hair and beard are well trimmed, his clothes are ostentatious in the Amnian style, his neck and fingers are adorned with gold and gems.

One of the Gilded Mirror’s liveried serving staff approaches the table and bends down to murmur into the ear of a drunk half-elf sitting across from the youth. The customer blinks blearily up at the man in uniform. “Eh? Wassat?” The man leans down and repeats the message. “The front desk? Fine, fine. Cash these in for me, will you?” The half-elf flips her cards over and pushes her small pile of chips towards the croupier. Everyone at the table groans as the hand is spoilt and the cards gathered in for a re-deal. “Ah, shut up!” grumbles the half-elf, stumbling off towards the front of the building.“You were all cheating me anyways.” One or two of the other players at the table tense at these words, but make no further move as she meanders off in the general direction of the reception area.

The croupier gathers in the spoiled cards in one smooth motion, and begins to shuffle and re-deal, leaving the original stakes as they were.

“Be so kind as to include me in this hand, would you?”

An elf slips gracefully into the recently vacated seat, smiling pleasantly up at the croupier as they place the 5gp buy-in on the table in front of them. Without missing a beat, the dealer nods once in the newcomer’s direction, passing them two cards with one hand and gathering up the stake in the other.

Keeping one eye on his cards and the players around him, the Amnian casts a penetrating glance in the direction of the newcomer now sitting opposite. He instantly recognises them as someone who moved into the Gilded Mirror a couple of weeks ago. They stuck in his mind for three reasons: their odd mode of dress; their frequent absences from the Mirror; and - despite his many business dealings with all sorts of races and groups - his inability to immediately place their heritage, beyond that of ‘Elven’. Similar to the garb he saw them in earlier in the week, the creature’s robe tonight is flamboyant without being garish. At first glance, the varicoloured squares of lacquered wood seemed decorative - this close, however, he can see their interlocking arrangement lends rigidity and protection. Under the clink of gold coins meeting the hardwood of the tabletop, the human thinks he can hear another similar and familiar sound - blade-metal. But he can see no weapons on the stranger. They appear to be calm and sober, and eager to play a game of chance and skill.

"Ah!" he says cordially to the new arrival. "Good business to you! I believe you are new to this fine establishment? My name is Heret Velnnarul, of the Olem-Murnelvar Trading Company."

They return a courtly, seated half-bow in response. “Good business to you, also, Master Velnnarul. A pleasure to finally meet you after hearing your name mentioned a few times in these parts. I’m Skylerian Morningdew, of no fixed business, aha; but, please, call me Sky.”

"Sky! A high and encompassing name. A pleasure to meet you."

Sky turns slightly in their seat and motions over their shoulder to a waiter. “A bottle of Saravva, if it’s not too much trouble. The ‘48 vintage. And” they glance around the table, taking in who’s drinking what. “Two glasses?” with a questioning look to Heret.

"Thank you!" grins Heret, impressed. "No fixed business, you say? Then may I ask what brings you to this place?"

“The Gilded Mirror? A chance to win a few coins, drink a few drinks, and meet some interesting people. It helps to know who’s staying in the room next door.”

"Well, you may surely drink drinks and meet interesting people here! Let us see whether you can win any coin…" Heret smiles as the other players around the table pick up their first two cards.

“Ack!” the half-orc to Heret’s right immediately cries out in disgust, throwing down his cards on the table: a three and a four. He stands up, pushing his chair back from the table and stalks off in anger. As per normal, the croupier reveals the house’s cards: a five and a six. The well-dressed nobleman sitting opposite the dealer raises an eyebrow at the house’s hand, says nothing, peers at his own cards, and puts down another 5gp. The female fighter sitting between Sky and dealer holds her cards close to her chest, checks them, puts down 5gp, and leans back in her seat, looking round with a smug look on her face. Without looking at their cards, Sky returns Heret’s smile and puts down another 5gp. Heret laughs, “Oh-ho!”, then scoops up his cards, looks at them briefly, and pushes five more gold coins forward.

The server brings over the bottle; silver-green glass in the shape of a sand timer filled with a clear liquid, and puts down clean goblets in front of Heret and Sky. “Many thanks.” murmurs Sky, a platinum and a silver piece appearing between the index and middle fingers of their right hand, which they place on the now-empty serving tray.

The croupier gathers the additional bets into a larger pile in the centre, and turns over the next card - a one. He immediately raps his knuckles on the table, signifying the house is folding. The nobleman chucks forward 5gp at the same time as the fighter also puts in 5 more gold. Sky bets another 5gp, leaning back in their chair to look over at Heret. “Do you conduct your business from here then?” they say, waving their hand to encompass the Mirror. “I know that’s becoming the fashion these days.”

“I conduct business wherever is convenient,” the young Amnian replies, putting five more gold into the pot. “Sometimes here, sometimes at our factory, sometimes in other places.”

The croupier turns over a second card: a two. The nobleman groans and pushes his cards over to the dealer. He picks up his remaining chips and his drink, and moves over to another table. The fighter, ignoring the conversation around her, re-checks her cards, lips moving as she counts; she tentatively adds another 5gp to the pot in the middle of the table. Sky places a second platinum piece in the pot and retrieves 5gp in change, before taking another sip from their goblet.

Afforded a second, closer look, Heret takes in their angular, smokey eyes, which seem to drift around the room almost lazily; their skin is incredibly pale, with a tinge of lilac; each ear is pierced by at least 10 rings or studs, but looking closer he can see spikes and chains connecting the metalwork in apparently intentional - almost painful-looking? he thinks - designs. Having discarded the improbabilities of High Elf, Wood Elf, Sea Elf, and Eladrin, Heret is struck by Sky’s similarity to some of the Drow he has had dealings with in Daring - and yet unlike. Memories of less historically accurate accounts - more like bed-time stories - surface in his mind about Elves that dwell in the shadows and serve a harsh but just Queen.

Sky looks up and meets Heret’s eyes, cutting off any further thoughts. “The game seems to be reaching quite an exciting climax. Maybe we could discuss more after its conclusion and not distract or bore the competition with talk of business?” they say, self-deprecatingly.

"If you wish," Heret smiles, dropping more coins onto the pile and nodding at the dealer. "Where I come from, though, distracting the competition is part of the game!"

Sky smiles broadly at this, lamplight flashing off perfect white teeth, as the croupier turns over the final card - a four. “Reveal your cards, players, please!” The croupier instructs.

The man to Sky’s right triumphantly shows a seven and an eight. “22 here!” the dealer calls out. Sky reaches forward to turn over their cards and inadvertently knocks against their goblet, just managing to catch it before it spills. “Gracious!” they say, as they turn over their cards. “The wine has gone straight to my head.” - two sevens.

”21!” exclaims the dealer. “Can our last contender match that?!” turning to look at Heret.

"Not even close!" he laughs, and flips over a one and a four. "Well done! An auspicious beginning to your time at these tables."

Sky smiles demurely and waves away Heret’s praise. “And I applaud your commitment to an unfortunate opening hand such as that.” Sky looks around, spotting an empty table in a corner. “Maybe we could continue our conversation and wine in a quieter place?” and stands up, taking 55gp from the pot and leaving 5 for the dealer.

"Why not?" says Heret, vacating his chair and following Sky to the corner of the room.

Once settled in the comfy, padded chairs by the fire, Sky tops up their and Heret’s drink. “Talking of auspicious starts, how have you found the challenge of setting up shop in Daring? Does your company specialise in the trade of any goods in particular? As I say, I am currently unattached, businesswise, and am always keen to step back into the world of high finance.”

"Our foremost trade at present is the export of timber to Amn, but we have some other business in both directions." Heret sips his wine. "'Back,' you say?"

“Yes. While I dabble in private investment and am always looking for opportunities to back interesting and viable ventures, information is my main trade; uncovering and sharing. Corporate...negotiation is a particular skill of mine - brokering deals between and on behalf of a myriad of parties. For example,” Sky nods to a group of figures sat a table over Heret’s right shoulder. “I am accompanying some newly arrived businesspeople on a tour of Daring in the next few days. They’ve come here to invest and involve themselves in certain aspects of trade and commerce in Kantas.”

“Indeed?” replies Heret, making a mental note to steal a glance at whoever is sitting behind him at some point. “What ‘aspects’ might those be?”

“Well, my research so far suggests quite strongly that they are here to take advantage of the disappearance of one Mayor Daffles, erstwhile council leader and businessman extraordinaire. They feel there’s an opportunity to carve up and corner any and all trade and commerce opportunities in Daring. There’s about six of them in the group - but not all of them are investors: some are here as factors or representatives of others. Most of them seem like run-of-the-mill financiers but two of them have piqued my particular interest. One, a tiefling called Vacada, seems to have even better luck than me: I’ve not see him lose a single hand during any of the card games he’s played. Not a single one. He also looks like he can handle himself in a fight. Another, Erelm, carries a willow staff that looks like it could be the channel for some powerful magic. What’s more: she doesn’t seem to have a reflection... mind you, she also has none of the other characteristics one might associate with the night stalkers. Most curious.”

Frowning with what seems like irritation, Heret says nothing for a moment; but then his sunny disposition seems to return. “Well! Good luck to them, and to you. Though they may find,” he laughs, “that some of that trade has been ‘cornered’ already!”

Sky chuckles, “Don’t worry, Master Heret. I’m not conducting any business for them. Just showing them around.” They motion towards the stack of winnings. “Incidentally, talking of cornered trade, I am have also looking for a good home for this small lump sum of capital. I was wondering if the OMTC had any open investment opportunities?”

"Investment! Well, you could always try to buy part of a member's stock, or even all of it - but that little pile would not get you much! But we have many opportunities to do business, if that would interest you?"

“From little acorns, Master Velnnarul. From little acorns. I don’t want to hand over all my money until I know what sort of return I can expect. Call this a test sum. Would I be able to purchase stock in a specific element of the company - or would it be a general investment?”

Heret leans forward in his chair, warming to the conversation. "The stock is all one, friend Skylerian. I have a certain share, together with my associate Lasira. The largest shares are of course held by our founders, the estimable Iinishlesta Olem and Esneq Murnelvar. Various other members own smaller shares." The young man's hands are moving in what might be intended as some kind of representation of these arrangements, or might just be excited gestures. "On Shieldmeet day four years hence, the members will meet to decide the future of the Venture. Either they will dissolve it and divide the whole stock among themselves in proportion to their investment, or they will divide only what stock then subsists in excess of the original capital, and the rest will continue for another period."

Sky nods slowly. “Sound approach. Particularly, if I assume correctly, that this is a new joint venture? New either in scope and/or personnel. That way, no-one is tied long-term into anything that is not profitable or agreeable. Four years hence, you say? Still time to turn a tidy profit. Any of your members looking to sell some of their stake - with a view to an early exit? And, please, do call me Sky - I haven’t been called Skylerian since my mother caught me with my hand in the pastry jar.”

"New indeed! We arrived in this continent as the year began and we've been taking timber back to Amn only since the spring. This is but the start of the great venture - a new age for Amn's foreign trade! Any member selling their stock now would be a fool." Heret is by this point grinning broadly and slapping the arm of his chair with enthusiasm. "But perhaps there are such fools among the smaller members - I know not. I can mention your interest to the governors if you wish, so that they may have it in mind should such foolishness occur. Ha ha!"

“That would be much appreciated if you could.” Sky responds, draining the last of their wine and scooping their winnings into a velvet bag hanging on their belt. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, it is getting late and I needs must be up early in the morning to prepare for my trip with those fine people over there. I am much obliged to you for taking the time to introduce me to the workings of your company. Maybe we can discuss other opportunities to do business when I return from escort duty - and maybe I’ll have some more coin to invest. Meanwhile, is there some small favour I can do for you or the company - as thanks for your, aha, company and conversation this evening?”

"Leaving before I have a chance to ask you more about your own business?" asks Heret with amusement.

Sky smiles deprecatingly. “I have no business to speak of, Master Heret. As I say, I’ve just arrived in town and am relishing starting afresh. Hopefully I’ll have more of interest to offer when we next meet.”

“I look forward to it, then.”

(Avec Heret Velnnarul)