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 Post Posted: Fri May 01, 2020 3:56 pm 
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Arkady briefly wonders which of the younger gods Zalasbra might be communing with, but puts that aside for now. "We will also be needing to work out how our tithe is to be calculated, and how to pay it in future. Since Primate Raven does not seem to be the one we will be dealing with any more, will we be discussing that with Brother Wale or with one of the patriarchs?"
He's basically ready to go too. Though suddenly it occurs to him that Dolmant may well have been blessed by one of the Younger Gods, and wonders if his god will be caring one way or the other.

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 Post Posted: Fri May 01, 2020 5:27 pm 
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Roger puts down his book and indicates he is ready as well.

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 Post Posted: Fri May 01, 2020 7:34 pm 
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"I think the matter of future tithes might best be discussed with Arch-Prelate Ortzel. We have a lot we can offer each other and I think a conversation with His Holiness concerning what can be done to forge a relationship between our peoples would be most ideal."

Felix scratches his head.

"We'll need to ask about that when we get there, at the least."

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 Post Posted: Sat May 02, 2020 7:41 am 
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"You could discuss it with any of the Patriarchs," says Dolmant, "but in the current situation, it would be better to discuss the matter directly with Ortzel." He nods at Felix, acknowledging the point. "When it comes to Church policy, there is no higher authority except the Elene god himself, so there's no chance of anything being overridden or overturned. As to Brother Wale, his remit extends only so far as to the physical security of the finances; he will ensure that they are spent as the Church - and specifically the Arch-Prelate - decides they should be spent. But he neither decides nor negotiates policy himself."

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 Post Posted: Sat May 02, 2020 11:00 am 
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Arkady nods. "Then let's give Brother Wale something to spend. I think he is going to be needing it."

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 Post Posted: Sat May 02, 2020 10:18 pm 
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"I'm ready to meet Brother Wale," Felix says.

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 Post Posted: Mon May 04, 2020 2:00 pm 
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Following Dolmant's instructions, you take the truck full of gold to a specific address, where you meet Brother Wale; a stick-thin monk dressed entirely in black. (For some reason, he might remind one of a predatory flamingo). Accompanying him are a small detachment of Church Knights (including Sir Sparhawk, who gives the Terrans a wink) to see to the safety of the gold.

Unless someone has something they'd specifically like to discuss with Brother Wale (or anyone else) the hand-over of the gold will go without a hitch; and Brother Wale will see to it that you get receipts for all of it.

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 Post Posted: Mon May 04, 2020 2:33 pm 
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Felix will want to check and make sure the church's counts match his own counts for the gold, on the off chance he miscounted and something did indeed go missing in transit. Don't want David to get on him about their agreed upon payments to the locals going astray. The receipt probably covers that, though.

Felix doesn't have anything he wants to discuss with Brother Wale that he doesn't think would be better discussed with Ortzel, so once the hand off is done he'll be ready to move on.

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 Post Posted: Mon May 04, 2020 8:30 pm 
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Arkady watches the handover while quietly considering the seam that produced all that gold which apparently didn't need any refining. He suspects that hill probably has some interesting minerals in it. But that aside, he contents himself to just quietly thank God that all 300 ingots made it where they had to go. Then while the truck heads back to the manor, he joins the others to meet Ortzel again.

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 Post Posted: Tue May 05, 2020 7:20 am 
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The Church's count matches Felix's own count. It seems like none of this gold went astray. How fortunate!

Once it's all been handed over, the Terrans head off for their appointment with Ortzel. After a brief wait (while Ortzel finishes up a discussion with a monk - you can't hear what it's all about, but the monk leaves with a thunderous expression on his face) the Terran group is led before Ortzel. The ArchPrelate's meeting room is very clearly designed to encourage the impression that the ArchPrelate is the most important person there - he gets a large and elaborate chair, while the only other seating in the room is a series of low benches resting against the walls. There is also a large and impressive desk in front of him.

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 Post Posted: Tue May 05, 2020 12:24 pm 
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Arkady sketches a shallow bow, not being quite sure what's appropriate. "Congratulations on your election, Your Holiness. We were wondering if we could be discussing with you the matter of the Terran tithe, now that Primate Raven seems to have lost that responsibility."

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 Post Posted: Tue May 05, 2020 4:00 pm 
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Felix gives Ortzel a nod, unsure of precisely how to handle himself. He studies the man's expression to see how he acts now that he's the current head of the church.

"On that note," Felix says. "It's probably a good idea to figure out what sort of relations our peoples will have with each other, going forward. I think it's been somewhat amicable, and I'd like to see it continue along that path."

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 Post Posted: Tue May 05, 2020 7:11 pm 
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Roger makes himself as comfortable as he can on the wall bench. For now, he's content to observe and listen.

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 Post Posted: Wed May 06, 2020 2:58 am 
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"In all honesty," says Ortzel, "it's more than a little unusual for the Church to attempt to claim a tithe from people who are not themselves members of the Church. And I'm still getting caught up with the business of the Church's administration, but it seems that under Raven's primacy, the Kingdom of Elenia sent almost no money to the Church as a whole - one is, indeed, forced to wonder whether Raven might have been diverting funds to his own benefit. After all, all that bribery must have cost him rather a lot."

Arkady: Empathy: +5 Roll: -3 Total: +2
Ortzel: Resolve: +5 Roll: -2 Total: +3


Arkady can't quite manage to read Ortzel's emotional state; whatever his true feelings about the Terrans may be, he hides them behind an unbroken mask of polite neutrality.

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 Post Posted: Thu May 07, 2020 3:01 am 
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FATE point spent: +2 to Arkady's empathy roll

It's not the first time that Arkady's seen a man elevated to a respected position, where he is supposed to be the very epitome of neutrality in all his interactions. Arkady recognises Ortzel's mask for what it is; the worried attempt of a man not to let anyone see exactly how much the power that he now wields scares him.

He gets the impression that, if all goes well, Ortzel will settle into the role eventually. Until he does, he'll keep hiding his feelings behind that mask - from anyone and everyone. But once he recognises the mask, Arkady can also glimpse a little beyond it.

The first time that Ortzel met the Terrans, they bought him safely from a castle under siege to the Holy City, to stand for election. That is a cause for him to, already, feel a sense of gratitude towards the group. The Terrans then found out, and exposed, an attempt by the traditional enemies of the Elene kingdoms to subvert the election; once the attempt was exposed for what it was, the assembled Patriarchs rejected the influence of their ancient enemy, and promptly elected Ortzel instead. The exposure of that plot - and the attendant capture of Raven - is a reason for not merely Ortzel, but also the entire Church of which he is now the head, to feel some gratitude towards the efforts of the Terrans.

And it's there, when Arkady looks for it. Under his mask of neutrality, Ortzel's major feeling towards the group of Terrans is, indeed, Gratitude. Ortzel will likely be somewhat careful about what he agrees to - being unused to wielding this sort of power - but by and large he seems most likely to treat the Terrans fairly, even yield a few small concessions to them in order to keep the mutual relationship strong.

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