Brokenthorn Lumber, Inc.

[Lady Anais]

"... this forest, which has been nothing but a hazard for travelers and the citizens of Scara Brea alike would then be able to be used for the benefit of this nation; providing an essential resource that would bolster the economy."

The porty man on the wooden stage has his face red from shouting to the crowd, sweat covering his forehead as his neck has turned a brighter red from his chin scratching it. And from beside the stage, she watches him in silence as the crowd claps.

This is the definition of rallying. These people may not even be for what he says, but he offers them just enough positives for the mob to be on his side. And among groups of people like this, mob mentality rules.

"Not only will we be stimulating the economy with this lumber resource and the jobs that go with it, but we at Brokenthorn Lumber, Inc. will be providing a service to the community. New trade routes, and safer passages will be made. New land will be cleared for building homes and farms. With the forest of a more managable size, hunters and trappers will be able to pull in more pelts and meats in fewer trips."

The man tugs at his collar and coughs, the oratory pausing while he clears his throat, the shouting getting to him. And still, she watches patiently.

This is one of many stops that the Brokenthorn Lumber company is making in Scara Brea. Public opinion of them has went through the floor since they announced their operations and this kind of public relations is being pulled out to save face before they have to go into the political arena to argue their case.

"Every man, woman, and child in Scara Brea will benefit from what we're doing. We're not butchers like our opponents would make us out to be. We're not just clearing out a forest. We're clearing the way to the future; a future that is brighter for all Scarabrians."

The crowd cheers again as the man is wrapping up his speech, his face a beet red from all thr shouting as his voice stays empassioned. And still, she waits beside the stage patiently.

And how I came to be involved with them? My land's been taken from me. It's been over a year since my very home was stolen by brigands, claiming it for their own. Out travelling, I was unable to stop them. For years the workers of my land sent ores and lumber out with the trade merchants, making sure there was always money coming in. Money that was sent to me. Everywhere I went, I had a line of credit waiting, resources on tap. Then it was stolen. After a year away, the credit starts running out, the ore and wood lining someone else's pocket. I don't even have enough money for the passage home. Anything that gets me the funds or equipment I need to get back to Salvar and retake my land, I'm interested in.

The crowd still claping, the portly man waddles off the left side of the maple stage, tottering unevenly down a few steps. Seeing the Baroness there, his eyes light up. The color starts fading to a more normal shade as he comes towards her, pulling a handkerchief from his pocket and wiping it across the back of his neck.

"Lady.... Hieras, is it?"

Enter Brokenthorn Lumber, Inc.

The Baroness nods her head slightly at the man, one hand propped against her hip as the other holds high on the shaft of her voulge. She's leaning a bit far onto it, the look on her face as she glances over the man showing that she's not impressed. The man bows, huffing as he stuffs the damn handkerchief into his pocket.

"Very good. Yes, I was told you were going to meet me here, but I wasn't sure quite what to expect."

The man looks over Anais awkwardly, his eyes tracing over the dull red-orange tint of her armor and lingering on the weapon she is propped up against.

The lumber company wants to start an operation in Brokenthorn, but is meeting resistance from the locals. Before public opinion got too bad, they decided to take a more political approach. Even now they have writers preparing speeches, speakers readying to argue for the company. They will be arguing in the Scarabrian court, petitioning the Queen to support their efforts and allow them to run their operation.

"You come highly recommended, I must say. Over the next few days, we're going to need someone with your... talents to help us in our endeavors."

Fact is, Brokenthorn Lumber plans on starting their operation even before they get approval. They already plan that most of their opponents will be going to Valeena Family Castle over the next few days to argue against the company. It's as much a distraction as an honest appeal on the logging company's part. They plan to go ahead with logging even as the talks are going on.

Lady Hieras nods, pushing herself gently off of her propped position, clutching her weapon and using the polearm almost like a walking stick as the man walks past her, headed for a row of horses.

I know all of this, but could care less. The fact is that they're going to be paying me, and paying well. That's the only part of this equation that matters.

"Come along, we'll go over the terms and conditions of your employment on the way to headquarters."

Looking back at the crowd, people are murmuring, talking with smiles and an abundance of energy about the company. One-fourth of them are likely people planted by the company to spread a good word about them. Still, the propaganda seemed to resonate with the people. Lady Hieras shakes her head as she mounts a horse next to the portly man and spurs the beast into a slow trot.

[Dvlrockin]

Amon stood in the crowd listening to the man give his speech on why the Lumber company was a good thing for the town of Scara Brae, and not some plague to the land as most people thought it to be. The man was very convincing, he brought up good points, and was very illuminated while he was delivering the speech.

Someone with some talent wrote this speech, thats for sure. I doubt very highly it was this man though, he seems more of a puppet to me, not the kind that would pull the strings. Amon thought to himself.

As the man finished his speech and exited the stage the crowd, including Amon, gave him the due respect of a light applause. However, unlike the majority of the crowd, Amon let his eyes remain on the odd little man and follow him. The portly man walked off the stage and down a few steps, only to meet up with and start talking to a rather interesting looking woman. Amon was suprised that he hadn't noticed her before, she was nothing like any of the townsfolk here. The two began conversing but Amon could not hear well enough what it was about through the noise of the crowd.

Slowly, without trying to show it, Amon begins to make his way twoards the odd little couple, interested in what exactly it is that they are talking about. Closer and closer he gets to them, spurred onward by his neverending curiosity, he must know everything that is happening around him to be able to form an opinion on anything.

As Amon gets within his hearing distance the woman mounts a horse and has it walk slowly alongside the man that was delivering the speech. They began walking off, and Amon decided that he would follow them, but he would do it carefully. He was going to treat them for the time being as an animal that he was hunting, he was going to observe them from a distance for now, until he better knew what they were up to.

Amon continued to walk in the same direction as them, but he kept at a distance that he could still see and hear them, which was a distance further than a humans, and he tried to blend in with the crowds of people around him, doing his best not to be detected.

[Of Free Will]

" Quite a rousing speech. Wouldn't you agree? "

Elijah turned around, facing the man that had spoken to him. The man was tall, clean cut and very well dressed. The man clutched his coat and twisted his chestnut brown mustache as he awaited Elijah's reply. Elijah smiled lightly.

" Yes, he's quite the public speaker. " Elijah replied.

Yes, quite the public speaker indeed. Sort of reminds me of a certain mad dictator back on Earth.

Elijah and the mustached man were joined by yet another well dressed man. He was shorter than the other and his gray and black hair was thinning.

" Indeed. He brought up many good points. " said the balding man.

" Yes, many good points. In fact, seems like he covered just about every issue that could have anyone in the town worried. Although I noticed, like so many other politicians, he neglected to mention the negative consequences that would come from clearing out the forest. " said Elijah, rubbing his chin inquisitively.

The other two men turned to each other with raised brows. They did not seem too pleased with Elijah's statement.

" And exactly what are these consequences? " asked the mustached man.

" Well for starters I noticed he mentioned the forest would be a more ' manageable size ' which would allow hunters to bring in more meats and pelts with fewer trips. However, when you take the time to think about it, you would actually be hurting not just the hunters, but all the citizens of Scara Brae.

Less forest means less places for the animals to live. The herbivores would lack shelter, and thus would be easier targets for the carnivores. Eventually, the carnivores would consume so many herbivores that the populations would dwindle, and the meat the carnivores needed would no longer be found in the forest. Where else is there meat? No where but in the city. I can garuntee that if this whole thing goes through as planned there will be many more wild animal attacks in the coming years. "

The two men looked at each other once again, giving each other a nod. Elijah suddenly realized that he might have said too much. The balding man smiled.

" My what an intelligent lad you are. I would very much enjoy what else you have to hear. Won't you join us for tea? " said the balding man, extending his hand for a hand shake.

Yes, Elijah was intelligent. Far too intelligent to fall for that.

" Oh. Thank you for your offer, but I really must be going. " Said Elijah as he started to turn away from the men. But before he could even take one step, one of them grabbed his arm firmly and pulled him back. Elijah turned to face the mustached man who was glaring at Elijah intensely.

" We insist. " said the mustached man. It was then that Elijah noticed the balding man was holding a miniature crossbow in his hand, which was pointed directly at Elijah's heart. A stern look came over both their faces. They were prepared to kill him if he did not come with them.

" Suddenly I find myself overcome with thirst. Tea sounds delightful. " said Elijah, keeping a calm look upon his face.

" Smart lad indeed. You will come with us. " said the mustached man. it was obvious to Elijah now that these men worked for the lumber company. He wasn't sure where they were going, but he had gathered by now that it wasn't to get tea.

What have I gotten myself into now?

[Edmund Talbott]

OOC: Room for one more? If not I'll pretend I never was here.

IC:

"That's a poor choice my friends. No one ever suggested violence was the answer." The stranger was different. The guitar he carried gave away some hint of his nature, but the longswod that sprouted in his hand, and the buckler in his other screamed his intent. "In fact, violence most certainly is not the answer, you are utterly destroying my ability to compose music with your incoherent babble, and if you don't stop it, I'll beat you bloody in the face, and leave your mangled corpses to rot in the forest you seem to treasure so much. I mean, honestly, a man comes to some quiet area to relax, maybe write a song or two, and what happens? A pack of loudmouthed louts with more swords than brains ruin the entire proccess..." The bard was quite wroth. Few things irked hm more than interruption of his occupation, or the mockery thereof. Threatening people simply went against his moral fiber, so even if the shouting fool hadn't ruined his song, he would have been sorely tempted to intervene anyway.

The longsword tracked onto the chest of the nearer worker, and the buckler was held poised to knock aside any shot from the crossbow that might come towards him or their erstwhile victim. "Are you quite alright by the by?" His seeming calm in the face of possible rapid and violent death was greatly at odds with the thoughts spinning through his head at that moment. What in all the bloody hells have I got myself into this time? The hell were you thinking Ed, there's two of them, and they have a crossbow, at the very least. Way to try and get shot you braindead fool. And you can't just set the forest on fire to end the whole fuss, no matter how fun it would be to watch. They'd get mad His own thoughts were strangely calmer than those running through his mind however, which were, maybe his, he wasn't very sure yet. He knew they could write from time to time, and liked to burn things. Shut up, I'm busy threatening corporate goons. You aren't helping, keep writing that new song you were talking about...

[Taskmienster]

This thread has been sitting for a full year. Since no response has been made to create activity I am going to be moving this. If you would like it to be reopened please feel free to PM myself or another staff member and they will be able to move it for you back to Scara Brae.