Technically, the docks and the farms and fisheries and shanty towns are all a part of the city, but it's what goes on inside the inner walls that MAKE it a Vissian city.

The houses are practically build on top of one another, with clay tiled roofs in lairs as the stone houses are piled atop one another, some times with wood scaffolding and stairs to go between the levels. Tiny closes and alleys wind between the streets as well. The entire area is crowded and confused in most areas where most people live .

Those buildings that aren't stacked on top of one other in a ramshackle manner are reserved for the wealthy and important buildnigs: a few major churches, and the houses of the families, and of course, a few of the guilds that cannot hope to operate in tight confines. They even have careful fences to keep others out, and hired guards.

Visible even from near the gate is the hall of the council, where decisions are made (when the council members aren't tearing each other's throats out) the cathedral of the one, and the collegium. While this is one of the few Vissian cities that doesn't have a full fledged university, there are a number of academies that teach a wide range of subjects to the children of nobles, the well to do and a few lucky and talented students chosen on merit.

Scholar finds himself escorted to the bank, where introductions are made and money is deposited.
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:13, Thu 11 June 2020.

The details are worked out. The money is thoroughly tested chemically and by weight, and eventually a deal is made out. The interest for a non-fixed short term deposit is quite low, but that was never the point.

It gets their attention, and that's what you needed. When you say what you want, whispers and introductions are made. It takes about three hours (pleasantly spent in the merchant district enjoying the markets). Argent orders a coffee, and is quite pleased by it.

Eventually, you go through a few layers of higher ranked family members, until you find yourself at a table with three high ranking members in their estate. A quiet young man and a middle aged heavyset fellow with a peppery beard seem to be your negotiators, with the young man sitting at his right offering advice. An older woman in pure white robes to their left remains silent throughout the proceedings, but is treated with deference by the servants (who have supplied various refreshments.

The middle aged one does the talking.

"So, I understand you wish to speak to the Lorenzi family about more weighty matters than a bank deposit. We were told your crew contained one of the fey, and an automoton, in a vessel that defies all shipbuilding logic.

The young one whispers something to the older, then sits back, smiling.

"Also, it looks like your money comes from the Isle of Bargains. That certainly has our attention."

Increase knitted his fingers together as he began to speak.

"All of these statements are correct. My allies and I made a considerably lucrative arrangement with Lasier before our departure. The ship, and its design however, rest solely with myself."

He allowed that statement to hang in the air as he gauged their responses.

"As for the matter at hand I would like to propose an exchange of sorts. You see I have a very broad set of skills, skills that mundane men cannot hope to replicate. In exchange for assisting House Lorenzi in some matter I would like your bid of support in appeal to the Council."

Some raised eyebrows from all but the impassive woman.

"Oh ho! The council! You are bold. And to come away with MORE money from Mr. Laiser is a rare occurrence indeed."

The others are impassive as Earnesto continues.

"I am not an expert in shipbuilding, but I was told your design was quite impossible, except perhaps in the bright republic. Most interesting.

We have a few matters that require attention. The council has more, of course. Things never end with them.

You have my attention, but I do not know much of your abilities. Our primary concerns are fisheries and banking, as you may know. If you can think of any way to aid with those industries I would be quite interested to hear it. Though our ability to outlay capital is limited."

"If you or your crew are great heroes, explorers and warriors, well, that's a different story entirely. There are always jobs available that I would not trust to many."

Increase considered his options for a silent moment.

"I would say that my allies possess a broad variety of skills, each of them more capable than 10 or more of the same profession. However, I am inclined to still my tongue for the moment. When such a time as their abilities are revealed we can discuss those tasks in detail."

A panning glance showed that he was finished with that particular line of conversation.

"As for the ship and my own abilities I am willing to part with the design for appropriate compensation. I am also willing to oversee the construction of lesser vessels in mass. It is not an overstatement to claim that I am easily faster than 10 shipwrights and can work for a fraction of the cost and materials."

The reality was that he was faster than 1000 shipwrights but it was unlikely that they would believe such a thing. Best to reduce by magnitudes and prove himself more capable than reveal his true power and draw suspicion.

"That would save us a fair bit of money. We can hire you on as an agent, or give you a contract. Either way, you will be well paid, but we would request exclusivity"

There is a short whisper between the men, and the woman whispers something else. Argent takes the opportunity to whisper in yours.

"If you want them to consider a council meet, you'll want to play up more. Something off about the young one.." Argent trails off.

After a few moments, Ernesto Lorenzi speaks up.

"It's hard to make a fair offer when you don't know what's on the table. Harder still to know what services you can provide. I can't help but consider that you are.. understating your abilities."

The robed one smiles.

"We do have some problems that we'd like to get rid of, of a supernatural persuasion. I'm getting the idea that you are not being.. honest with the extent of your abilities.

If that's not on the table, I don't know what we can do about the council meet. We'll be happy to write up a contract or hire you long term though as an agent."

Ernesto says affably.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:09, Mon 05 Nov 2018.

Increase took a hard glance at Ernesto and held it for a silent moment that was beyond the duration of decency. Then he spoke.

"I see."

He looked to the others gathered before him.

"Is his opinion shared with the rest of you gathered?"

Knowing the nature of noble houses it was unlikely that they would speak against their own in front of a commoner.

"So be it. Tell me of your supernatural issue and I will ensure that it is no longer so. Then we will negotiate the terms of our exclusive contract and an audience arranged with the Council."

"He is the head of the family. It is his opinion which matters." Said the younger one, in careful measured tones.

The robed woman's face was impassive. Ernesto nodded.

Argent's head twitched slightly, as though he recognized the voice, but he said nothing, and he quickly turned his face into a blank state.

After an awkward pause, Ernesto shrugged.

"Well said. I value the judgement of my family, but on this, we are in agreement.

To be clear, it was not our attempt to be insulting: we Alfonzi have a reputation for blunt, simple statement of fact. We deal with fishermen a great deal, of course.

Please do not take our position as insulting: it could take days for a minor family head, captain of the guard or even a guild head to address the council. I am on the council, and my time to address it is extremely limited. Embarrassment to the council could cost my family, and even the city, greatly."

The younger man hid a sigh. The mage, again, remained impassive.

"For nearly six months, we have lost an absurd number of fishing ships. A few always vanish, but after losing five times as many ships, with no wreckage spotted, we began to become quite concerned and scrambled the watch and began scrying the harbor, and combing the beaches for wreckage.

We have found nothing, and more and more ships keep vanishing without a trace.

We have ruled out all sensible causes. Desertion was unlikely - these are mostly good, family men. The vessels make no sense for piracy: pirates would not bother specifically targeting fisher vessels and leave even small traders alone, and we have sent out patrol craft and they spotted nothing unusual. Pirates who attacked this close to the city would usually offer ransom, at least. The weather has not been unusual other than that earthquake a few weeks ago.

We found no wreckage or bodies, and made sure to sweep the usual riff raff for stolen hulls - nothing has been found, even when scrying. As a naval man yourself, I'm sure you realize how absurd that is. Nearly 40 hulls have been lost, and the currents would carry some of that towards the shore.

Decent sized trade ships are not struck, nor patrol vessels. Only the deep sea fishing vessels have been attacked. Or at least, I am presuming they are, since we've no evidence to account for it.  We did find a keel plate of one of the missing ships, once, up against one of the city's furthest island forts. Sympathetic magic to find the other remains of the vessel completely failed. It has either been warded or utterly destroyed without wreckage. I'm not sure what could do that so consistently.

These attacks must stop. In addition to the loss of our citizens, the cities very food supply is threatened, as is our trade, not to mention a large segment of my houses's cash as we underwrite many of these vessels.

If you stop the attacks, I will pay you a large amount of money and enable you to meet the council. If you are somehow able to recover some portion of the men and boats, I will award you a sizable salvage fee. Hell, if you just find out what in God's name is going on, I'll make sure you are well compensated at least."

He was clearly very upset about this, though it wasn't entirely certain if this was due to his own financial loss, his family's loss of prestige, or the loss of lives. Of course, altrustic Vissio merchant head was practically an oxymoron.

"If you have have questions, or thought of some more reasonable explanation to what is happening, feel free to present it, though I warn you we've gone over this with in some detail. If there was a simple explanation for this, one of us would have found it."

He shrugged.

"And if you don't think that's within your ability, I understand. We can just make an arrangement for the ships if you'd prefer."

The situation was most troubling but it was likely not something so out of his depth that he would be incapable of accomplishing the task.

"I will report back to you when I have information or when I have completed the task."

With that he rose from his seat and gave a polite inclination of his head. As he moved out of the door his mind was already filtering through a torrent of information and beginning to piece together the mysterious disappearances.

"Well that is confidence! I wish you the best of luck, sir!"

Interesting. Quite interesting. Increase had gleaned a fair bit information about the subject from his conversation and the abilities granted to him from being an entity of higher order. He looked to Argent as he continued to walk.

"Argent I will set about constructing a suitable fishing vessel. I would like you to find a crew of mariners, focus on smaller fishing vessels. Tell them that any fish recovered will be divided among those who join in addition to their pay."

OOC: I set the pay to be the average of such endeavors + 20%

"Once you have completed that task I would ask that you find my allies, namely Marius or Claire. I will likely be in need of their assistance."

"Right. I'll try and learn a bit more about the city too. I might be able to figure out where we can find some more money if you'd like, or contract to buy some sla- arrange colonists for the others.

If the crew a scientific experiment study on fishing or somesuch. On reflection, I suppose we are. That should dissuade them from asking too many questions."

Increase shook his head in the negative.

"The others can concern themselves with colonists but more information about the city will always be useful. I suggest you dedicate more energy to that. If slavery is among the topics than learning its tenets and structure is more important than the slaves themselves."

"I will do that. I'll see if I can find anything about that younger one of our allies. I have a strange feeling about him..."

"Follow your instincts and be careful."

Increase clasped his hand over Argent's shoulder and then the two parted ways.

*New Scene*

Increase and Silver find themselves once again at the Lorenzi, in a small private chamber. This time, Scholar is approached himself and an appointment is made, and there's no waiting.

The table is stocked with fresh food and drinks.

The same three are there as well, as well as another man who wore stylized chainmail armor and carried a deadly looking nobleman's blade. The way he moved reminded Increase of the way his crew had moved, crouched low and balanced on the ball of their foot. This was an old sea hand, though is clothes incidated he was a noble, as did the Lorenzi pin he wore.

Ernesto spoke up first. "Welcome back. I hope you are well. Quite a trip, I hear. I am curious to hear your report."

All eyes and ears were upon Scholar.

[OOC - You don't have to explain everything. All you need to say is that you explain to them. However, if there's anything you want to colour in your descriptions or if you want to lie, or if you want to say anything in particular, I'm giving you the opportunity]

Increase delivers the details of his encounter with the leviathan in a matter-of-fact tone that lacks both lies and embellishing. He gave exact numbers on how many of his crew were injured, how many died, and how many of the worms they killed. He also gave an estimate of the total amount of fish which had to be abandoned and their market price.

In the end he gave the Lorenzi's a recommendation: do not attempt to kill the leviathan and employ a reduced haul size until the situation was ultimately resolved. The logic being that a reduced amount of fish aboard the vessel would prove insubstantial to the leviathan and it would ignore the vessel.

There was a distinct lack of surprise on their faces at the tale, and, oddly, they seemed as though they believed the story straight up.

"Interesting. This holds with what we've heard, as well.  It was so incredible a tale though, we thought we'd get your account as well.

So.. this puts us in an interesting position. You have indeed discovered what is going on, and we can now take steps to mitigate the losses. But we still have the problem.

We can and will certainly compensate you, as promised, with a handsome reward. We have a wharf large enough to accommodate your vessel, with an attached warehouse. We will lease this to you, for one farthing, for the period of a year. We will also pay your crew's shore fee for a full year, and provide significant monetary compensation.

If you wish, you may declare yourself our agent, and you may come and go into the inner city as you like."

The younger one spoke up.

"Or if you wish, you may retain your independence. That means you'll have to pay to get in unless we have business, and we will insist on exclusivity with the boats, but some wish to keep open status. This is understandable."

The older one nodded.

"True. Your services and powers are rare and valuable. I hope you will consider yourself a friend of our family, at least.

But one bit of bad news: we cannot present you to the council for citizenship for this alone. As you said, we still have the problem, though at least we know to mitigate it. We will certainly present you in a good light at the next council meeting."

Again, the young one.

"Mind- we are pleased with your performance. It is simply a matter of politics. Presenting a newcomer directly to the council for citizenship requires that half of the council be in favor of it. That would not happen yet."

Argent whispers over.

"A wharf with full docking permit will save us a lot of money. The fees start to add up tremendously for the kind of cubage we are using combined with the per head cost for the crew.

I think they are telling the truth about the council. I've looked into it. Citizenship is usually only given to people who live in the outer city after years of service, and it's still very rare."
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:08, Fri 07 Dec 2018.

Increase considered his options as he listened to Argent speak. The council of his ally was sound and reasonable. All the same he was slightly disappointed that this endeavor would take longer than he anticipated. No matter. It was not as if he had pressing matters to attend to in the intervening weeks and months.

He looked to the Lorenzi Family and spoke in a neutral, level tone.

"I have considered your offers and I have chosen to stay on with your House as an independent. For the duration of one year I guarantee exclusive rights to my vessel and the vessels that I produce, second only to my personal use."

"I would also request a detail of shipwrights be assigned to me and the warehouse I will be leasing from you. During the year of my contract I will educate them in my ways so long as their works for a duration of 5 years will bear the name "Aumentare Studioso" which shall be the name I will go by officially while within Veneto."

If the Lorenzi's agree I will enact an Improbable Change using the 2 Dominion I earned to make them all master shipwrights.

"Ah! Good. Yes. This is acceptable. From what we have seen of your ships, in a year or two if nothing else the houses will be very happy to accept you as a citizen."

The younger one handed over a sizable portion of cash and readied the documents. As he prepared the relevant ones, handing them over for examination. They didn't appear to have anything particularly loathesom about the terms.

Argent took a brief look at them, and the coins as well, and indicated they were acceptable - not that Scholar couldn't do that himself, but this was sort of his field.

"If you need our services for anything else, please let us know. I'm sure we can come to some future arrangement. It's in our best interest to retain good relations, I believe."

Increase rose from his seat and looked at the assembled members of the Lorenzi House.

"Yes I am sure that we do. If you'll excuse me."

With that Argent and himself left. Increase looked to Argent after they had gotten a few feet away from the building they were in previously.

"It seems we will be spending a greater amount of time here than I originally anticipated. I suppose there is nothing to done about it tho. I'd like to begin expanding my influence. With the shipwrights and my own vessels I'll be in need of crews. I've recently come into agreement with a bosun whose skills I trust. We should meet with him and discuss the details."

Argent nodded.

"They are a little scared of you selling your boats to other people. They've been asking about you, indirectly, and how well you honor contracts.

I'm pretty sure at least one of your crew was a spy. They didn't look surprised at all, and if they'd just gotten that from random second hand sailor's tales, there's no way they would have been so blase about it.

The things you and your.. peers, can do. " Argent shakes his head. "I SAW, and I can scarcely believe it."

Increase smiled to himself.

"I'm sure that they are but I am a man of my word if nothing else. Find their spies and ensure that they are always aboard our ships and that they are treated well. I would have them spread the word of my graciousness and skill."

As they continued to move a question arose in his mind.

"Do you believe that word has spread about the abilities of myself and my companions?"

He smiled"The 'crew' haven't exactly been quiet about your abilities. Some of the more impressionable people who came with us, are quite certain you are actual Gods, whether or not you consider yourselves to be.

I doubt most believed it, though many come to observe the boat, particularly after you finished that fishing vessel.

I suspect that now the whispers will reach the rest of the town... at least involving the three of you that were on the boat. The crew were not silent, and sailors talk always spreads.

Rumors travel faster than the wind, of course."