Emirikol Part IV, scene 2

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Dietrich finished his breakfast and made his way to his solicitor's office. It is a tasteful, almost somber affair, bespeaking in its architecture and its decorum a solidity and consistency that the Von Eisenwald family has always found appealing. Ushered inside, Dietrich met with the elder Rudolph Eisenwald - father of the younger halfling who had met the noble during his first few hours in the city.

The meeting is pleasant and heavy on specifics: the exact state of the various farms still operating on Von Eisenwald land, the investments in the local economy, the small debts accrued by the last lord of the manor and the payment schedules to those creditors. All scrupulously in order, and it obvious to Dietrich that not only is his family a valued client, but that the firm takes pride in providing services to their nobility from their shared town of origin. A light morning snack is delivered (heavy buns and coffee with honey for both - Rudolph apologizes for the lack of sausage, but he suffers at times from an attack of the gout and is allowed no meats between breaking his fast and noon, and his human clients rarely opt for such fare at midmorning), and as the men eat Dietrich probes for detail on his uncles relationships with his tenants. In doing so he learns that his uncle took an active interest in them, visiting each farm at least once a year, which is in line with the plans that Dietrich had already designed.

Finally, the nobleman produces a pair of pearls (the ones that once graced the eyesockets of a skull in Hightower Tor) and requested that Eisenwald & Son see to their sale. (Tom: I know they're going to cheat me, but a good solicitor will take a predictably small percentage off the top as opposed to an unpredictable one. I prefer that predictability.) He also arranges for Johann's salary and the solidification of the lines of the credit that the gnome had already started. Considering his business complete, the nobleman returns home with a thick pile of papers and contracts for his estates, that he might spend the day in pleasant contemplation of his duties as a member of the nobility. Not for the Von Eisenwalds the ways of the profligate and dissolute!

To be continued.