Negotiations

Posted on 27 Feb 2021 @ 8:01pm by Mage Kalian Winter & Warrior Martin Josceran & Warrior Rhiannon Cadash

2,385 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Lore's Labour's Lost
Location: Carta Mining Camp
Timeline: Cloudreach 17th - evening

OOC: After 'Mine, mine, all mine'

By the time the negotiations reached a standstill, Roxa's glass was empty and her annoyance rising. She'd thought Rhiannon would be easy to sweet-talk into anything she wanted, but the sailor had more backbone than she let on. She'd refused to budge on a few key issues, chiefly amongst them the amount of the fee but also other concerns Roxa had regarding the liability and traceability of the crates. She had made some perfectly reasonable suggestions on these counts that the little whelp had refused to even consider.

"Maybe it would be easier if I were to speak with your mother directly," Roxa said testily.

Rhi pushed her empty glass off to the side. She had not poured another drink since the first. Her instincts about Roxa had been right on the money. Very tough in her negotiations. It had come down to a few things. Rhi could see Roxa's frustration. Which was what Rhi wanted.

Roxa huffed. "I'm sure we can reach an agreement." Though they had failed to do that for the past hour. "Why don't we go for a tour of the mine itself ? I think you might better understand the necessities of our operation once you see for yourself."

Gangue had returned some time before and stood by the door, like the good little hound he was. Roxa motioned to him, twisting her fingers in a discreet hand signal. He showed no sign that he'd even noticed, but she knew he understood her orders. Wordlessly he moved away from the door and waited for them to take the lead.

"This way - if you please ?"

Rhi gave a nod. "I would like a tour." She smiled a mischievous smile as she stood, picked up the two glasses and drink and put it away. As the two walked out of Roxa's dwelling, Rhi looked to her two guards and gave a noticable nod. "If you do not mind, my guards will follow behind." She glanced at Gangue then to Roxa. Without hesitation she continued. "I know we can come to a deal my dear. Listen, I will drop a quarter from the fee and guarantee its safe and untraceable delivery. If something happens and the cargo can not be delivered then you will get a full refund plus the quarter that I am taking off. (mischievous smile and a wink) How does that sound Roxa darling."

Roxa made an effort to adjust her features into gratitude, resulting in an expression more like indigestion. "That is an, uh, reasonable offer." Her toothy grin returned to deliver a well-practiced lie. "You must understand that I aspire to maximize profits so that the workers may benefit from a larger share. They work quite hard… as you will see when we tour the mine." Roxa adjusted the sword strapped to her back in an unconscious gesture born of long habit.

Gangue followed along without comment, his eye on the two guards with Roxa's guest. He imagined a fight with those two along with this dwarven sailor would be a challenge worthy of a qunari, if only Roxa would give the word.

Rhi looked to Roxa, "If I could have a moment to talk with my other two guards." She moved over to where they stod with the horses. She leaned in and spoke quietly to the two of them. It was only a few moments then she returned. "Sorry, just wanted to make sure that they knew that I was going on the tour."

Roxa led them across camp to the edge of a rocky ravine that bordered the north side of the mining camp, and pointed to a wooden platform raised and lowered by a system of pulleys and a crane to and from the ravine floor. "The lift is dwarven design, obviously." Roxa stepped onto the lift.

Rhiannon and her guards followed Roxa onto the lift. One of her guards watched Gangue openly while the other stood as if he didn't really pay attention.

Gangue waited until the four dwarves were on the lift, then he stepped on and took the lift's controls.

Rhiannon gestured east as the lift lowered. "As you can see, we have access to the Waking Sea. But, it's not a safe place for a ship to moor close by, too many rocks beneath the waves. A long boat, though, can row in from a ship anchored further out, pick up ore, and row out."

Rhiannon knew this coast line and knew that not very many ships would be able to get close to the shore line here. "Are you not worried about the possibility of pirates coming across your ship while it is anchored out?"

Roxa shrugged, unconcerned. "That's the reason why I'd be paying you to take care of this part of the operation, isn't it ? Or one of the reasons, anyway. Besides, this stretch of coast is not overly populated. Pirates would tend to lurk on the usual trading routes between Jader, Ferelden and Val-Royeaux, I should think."

The lift, with a heavier charge than usual, was creaking along slowly. As it descended deeper into the ravine, a strong gust of wind made it sway slightly, making some of the guards look a little bit nervous. Roxa allowed a superior smirk to play on her lips. When they reached the bottom of the ravine she was the first to hop off nimbly before offering a gallant hand to Rhiannon.

Rhi gave Roxa a nod and a smile when she replied to question about pirates. When the lift shifted under the weight and a gust of wind, Rhi shifted with it. A sailor since she could walk, a little shift on an elevator was nothing. When it came to a rest Roxa extended her hand to Rhi, which she took. The woman's hand was ruff and there was strength in her grip. Which Rhi could appreciate. Roxa would notice Rhi's hand felt the same.

"This is half of a shipment," Roxa gestured to a few wooden crates piled by the entrance. "The other half will be ready soon. I do hope we can come to an agreement before then."

Rhi looked over the crates and gave a nod. She continued to look around yet spoke to Roxa. "Proper placement of the beams, bracing good. I would like to see more."

"Come and see." Roxa led the way, always more comfortable underground than she was on the surface. She knew the tunnels so well, she could have navigated them with her eyes closed, but she adopted a more sedate pace to allow the others to keep up.

Gangue came last and his horns made a dull sound as they scraped against the ceiling. He mumbled a curse in Qunari, clearly uncomfortable, and hung his head lower. Roxa sneered ; she'd told him time and time again to cut those things off, or at least trim them down to a more manageable size, but he stubbornly refused to. Misplaced ego, in her opinion.

"We've been working here for a while but making real progress over the last few weeks. Production has increased tenfold, which is why we need to look for new transportation arrangements," she explained as they walked. "Fortunately we managed to recruit a lot of workers." Though some were beginning to be too weak to work, and Roxa hadn't yet worked out what to do with them. She figured they could always toss the bodies into the sea, if it came to that. "Ah, here we are."

They'd reached the main cavern, the center of operations. A few of the Fereldans looked up as the group arrived, one even looked like he wanted to talk to Roxa, but a quick warning from one of the guards put a prompt end to it.

Rhi followed next to Roxa as they entered the mine proper. She could see that it was a fairly good replication of dwarven work. Roxa must have had a hand in it. She listened as Roxa spoke about making real progress the past few weeks. Along with hiring more workers. At this point they entered the main cavern. Rhi noticed the workers there. Fereldan from the look of them. Rhi gave them a slight nod before she looked to Roxa. "Very nice operations. I think we can figure this out. As I said earlier, I will drop a quarter from the fee and guarantee its safe and untraceable delivery. If something happens and the cargo can not be delivered then you will get a full refund plus the quarter that I am taking off." Rhi turned to look at Roxa and smiled. "That is best I can do for now. Once we establish a regular shipment time then we can negotiate a better deal."

"Of course. Your best offer for now. I understand," replied Roxa. This girl was too clever for her own good. But fortunately, the carta dwarf had a back-up plan to negotiate directly with Rhiannon's mother, with far more leverage. In the main cavern, Roxa heard someone singing. The voice of a woman, incredibly beautiful even though the song was one of those annoying Chantry melodies.

Gangue always hated going into the mine, but this time he heard music. He swung his horned head around, trying to pinpoint the source. Huh. He wrinkled his nose. The area where spent workers were left to die.

Rhiannon heard the signing. It sounded like it might be the young woman who traveled with her here.

"Must be coming from the, uh, infirmary," said Roxa with a glance at Gangue. He nodded, and she changed the subject.

"You may be interested to learn that the surface land above and surrounding the mine belongs to dwarfs – a father and daughter - who were banished from Orzammar. Their quarters are at the far side of the main cavern through a tunnel." Quarters was a rather loose description of a part of the mine cut off from the rest by a barred door. Roxa's lips pulled back in a predatory grin at Rhiannon. "I'll introduce you."

Rhiannon still listening to the song, when Roxa said something about the mine being owned by a father and daughter who had been banished from Orzammar. "Father, daughter. Banished. Interesting."

"Right this way," said Roxa with a chuckle. She nodded to Gangue as they made their way to the barred door at the northernmost part of the cavern, where she expected to add one more prisoner to her little jail. She planned to disarm and detain the clever dwarven sailor while Gangue killed her two guards. With her daughter held hostage, Rhiannon's mother would have no choice but to accept any deal Roxa dictated.

"Uh, excuse me!" Kalian – aka Korbyn - jogged toward them, still carrying a pickaxe, but held with the heavy end down. "Lady Rhiannon, please, may I speak with you?"

Roxa frowned at the vaguely familiar human interrupting them at such an inopportune time. If she wasn't still pretending to be a friendly host and legitimate mine manager, she'd have told Gangue to kill him. Instead, she signaled Gangue to block him.

Gangue grunted with irritation, not only was he not allowed to kill this human, his opportunity for a real challenge was delayed again. The qunari stepped between Roxa's guest and this bas worker.

Rhi heard the young man approach. She looked to Kalian and gave him a smile. "Korbyn correct. Go ahead dear."

Kalian had not really thought through what he would say, and now he had to think of a way to warn Rhiannon, and fast. With bowed head and the pickaxe on the ground beside him, he knelt in the dirt before the pretty dwarf. "Thank you, my lady. My petition concerns the chestnut beauty, my true love, Valsama. Tell her that Leesa betrayed her, and her clan is in danger." Valsama and Leesa were, of course, two of Rhiannon's horses. He lifted his head and winked. On his knees like this they were closer to the same height. "There isn't much time."

Rhiannon listened carefully as Kalian spoke about his love being betrayed and that there is not much time. What caught her attention was the name of his love and the one who betrayed her. They were the name of her horses. She gave him a slight smile as she secretly hand signaled her guards to be ready. "I will my dear."

Without speaking plainly Kalian couldn't be certain Rhiannon understood his warning, but he was mostly sure he had conveyed the message that they were all in danger. He got to his feet and bowed firstto Roxa, then he bowed to Rhiannon with a flourish and his best flirtatious smile. "Well, they're not paying me one royal a day to chat with pretty dwarves. I have work to do, if you'll excuse me," he said affably, and then he balanced his pickaxe on his shoulder and hurried off in the direction of a mine tunnel.

Roxa narrowed her eyes and regarded Rhiannon suspiciously. "It seems you have a human admirer." Roxa would have sent Gangue after the human, but she would need the qunari's skills.

Rhi grinned at Roxa. It was a mischievous grin. "He is cute for a human." She turned to head back the way they came. "I must be getting back. I know that my mother is waiting on my return." She grinned. "I would like to say goodbye to the three that came with me." She started to walk. "If that is alright with you. It won't take long. I know they have work to do."

Roxa scowled as Rhiannon turned away from her. "Well then. Perhaps you will meet the mine owners later." Roxa still planned to throw Rhiannon in the cell with the other prisoners, it would just be a little more complicated in the middle of the huge cavern. "Let me show you the ore we're collecting. Our output is quite impressive."

A scuffle near the mine entrance between a bas worker and one of Roxa's worthless guards caught Gangue's attention, and since Roxa hadn't given him permission to engage her three guests in battle – yet – the qunari went to investigate.

OOC: Continued in 'Uprising' and 'The end is near'

 

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