2022/09/14

Last time in the Iron Kingdoms, the party finalized their decisions for high captain.

The party reconvened in Undertow to meet back up with Charlotte and Shakes who had a bad case of food poisoning and was busy the previous day respectively. They conversed as to their preliminary opinions about the potential high captains, and ended up deciding that Commander Elish Madigan of the Finger's Watch was out of the running under the premise that law makers and law enforcers should not be the same people. From there they decided to hold a second round of interviews with the remaining candidates this time focusing on what said person would do with the power that high captain provides them, as well as determining who would work best together as high captains. To be polite, the party also arranged for appointments to be scheduled with the more busy candidates so that their entire focus could be on the interview.

With the preperations made the party set out and met High Prelate Isabel Tieri again in the Cathedral of Morrow on Doleth Isle. The prelate was attending to matters in the church though was once again able to set aside time for the party to talk with them. Opening the conversation Isabel told the party that after her reflection and prayer on the matter she had come to the conclusion that while her actions reflect on more than just herself but rather the entire Church of Morrow the potential to help the people of Five Fingers and the chance to temper any future violence was worth the potential risk cast upon the church. The party thanked Isabel for her frankness and then set about asking their questions. Isabel stated that her main goal as high captain would be to help the people of Five Fingers, specifically those on the less affluent and more impoverished islands. The fact that Hospice Island and its smaller neighbor Mute Sister Island were little more than slums where crime and disease were rampant was a travesty. The Church of Morrow already had outreach programs on those islands though as high captain the city itself would take more of an interest in its lower class. As for Isabel's opinions on her potential coworkers, she had little opinion on Atrixia though the fact that Atrixia had sent the party to vet the potential high captains was promising. High Captain Riordan she stated was a Thamarite through and through, and exemplified the traits often associated with worship of the sister. Outside of their likely religious differences Isabel expected that they would likely be few issues between the two of them. As for Sebastyan D'Lamsyn, Isabel stated that while she had never met the man she had heard talk that he was a hawkish man who sought to increase his own prestige and that of his company through conflict. With all of their questions answered, the party thanked Isabel and set off to make their appointment with Matea.

Matea was in her office for the Steam and Iron Workers Union and thanked the party for making an appointment this time. While they were important enough to see even unannounced, her other appointments were also important and squeezing the party in made things difficult. When asked as to what she would do as high captain, Matea stated that she was of the opinion that industry was the most important thing within Five Fingers, and that she would do what she could to advance that. Most notably advocating for a tax on those who come to Five Fingers as tourists to gamble and gawk at its unique atmosphere. The funds raised from such a tax would go to both building new factories as well as improving the living conditions for the workers, as a factory without workers is just an expensive building. Matea was then asked about her opinions on the other high captains, With her not having much opinion on Atrixia or D'Lamsyn, though stated that given that Riordan was a previous high captain she had dealt with him and his gangs before, she stated that he was able to keep to an agreement which made him OK to work with by her standards. The conversation did turn to another potential appointment in Nikolei Kutzov, Matea stated that she never had the displeasure of meeting Mr. Kutzov though he was a prime example of many of the robber barons that call Five Fingers home, and while technically none of the contracts that his employees entered were illegal, a number of them were exploitative. At that, the party had exhausted their well of questions, and left saying that they would make another appointment if they needed anything else.

The party then decided that since they were in the neighborhood they would stop in on Mr. Kutzov, especially in light of what Matea had said as to his character. Entering Kutzov Shipping, the party began talking to the shipping magnate once again. Nikolei was rather upfront when asked as to his opinions as to the future direction of Five Fingers. According to him, Five Fingers was placed at a prime location for trade, and that to grow the city, simply exploiting the trade that comes through its ports was sufficient. Nikolei stated that adding fees for ships resupplying in Five Fingers or simply passing through its waters to get further up the Dragon's Tongue River was to increase the fortunes of Five Fingers. The party was skeptical of the city's ability to enforce these fees and asked Nikolei as to how he expected ships to pay rather than just to avoid the port. Nikolei responded that it was just a matter of balancing profit with convenience in the case of north to south trade along the coast of Immoren, Five Fingers is placed in a very convenient place to resupply ships and thus companies would pay more for the convenience of resupplying in Five Fingers. As for trade along the Dragon's Tongue River, that was simply a matter of figuring out how high one could set the prices before Cygnar decided to send an army instead of paying. The city of Corvis especially was dependent on river trade as the swamps that surround most of the city means that building a railroad to the city is impractical. The unstated sentence within Nikolei's plan is that while he does believe that it will bring money to Five Fingers, he also believes that it will bring a large chunk of that money to himself. When asked about other high captains he said that he and Captain D'Lamsyn had worked together on numerous times over the years as mercenaries need stuff shipped and merchants need mercenaries upon occasion. High Captain Riordan he had had dealings with as the cost of doing business in Five Fingers before and doubted that their relationship would change much if they became equals. Finally Nikolei didn't have much of an opinion on Atrixia given that they operated in two separate spheres up until this point. In order to get the other side of the picture they did ask him about Matea, to which Nikolei stated that he had never met her, though knew of her by reputation, and that he respected anyone who was able to run a tight ship and gain concessions from the factory owners that she dealt with. Charlotte did ask one final question of Nikolei, stating that war was coming eventually, be it from Ord, Cygnar, or some other party. To that Nikolei gave the rather concerning response of “And?” elaborating that Five Fingers was too important to just let leave from Ord's perspective and from Cygnar's the potential was there for a new city and economic protection for cities such as Corvis. Like it or not the die had been cast by the revolution and now all there was left to do for the city was to weather the storm.

At Charlotte's request the party did get in contact with Laryana again. Charlotte believed that while Laryana was scarred from the loss of everyone she knew during the Claiming, she, and the Convergence which she was the only remaining member in Five Fingers offered something that no other candidate did: Technology. The Convergence of Cyriss had technology ahead of virtually every nation in Immoren and while their development had likely stagnated with their near destruction, even what they had was likely better than what Ord could boast as well as there was the potential for future growth. Laryana agreed to meet again in the same warehouse that they talked at before, expressing gratitude at the party contacting her again. The party asked the same question of Laryana that they had asked the other candidates, of what she would want to do as High Captain. Laryana stated that her main goal was more of a personal one though Five Fingers would likely benefit from it. Laryana truly wanted to rebuild the Convergence of Cyriss and hoped that the resources and connections of Five Fingers would make doing that easier. In the shorter term Laryana also stated that she would want to finish the hydroelectric generator that the temple was working on before the claiming, though the power that it would generate would be directed to Five Fingers rather than the temple. The party then asked Laryana to elaborate on what it would take to complete the generator, which was mostly time and people, though the people needed to be sufficiently skilled to assist. When asked if she would be able to work with the other high captains Laryana did state that it was likely less a matter of her working with them and them working with her. Laryana did express concern about Captain D'Lamsyn as he would view the developments that she and whatever new Convergence she could construct would make through the lens of weaponry, though she did state that the old Convergence did the same with their own advances. Finally the party did ask Laryana if she actually wanted to be high captain, and she honestly answered that she didn't know, she thinks that rebuilding the her family in Five Fingers would be good for both her and the city and if being high captain would ease that process she would do it. The party thanked Laryana for her honesty and stated that no matter what they would keep in contact with the clockwork woman.

With the second round of interviews completed, all that was left to do was for the party to make a decision. The two slots broke out to be Matea and Nikolei competing for one and Isabel and Laryana in the running for the second. Nikolei had lost most of his appeal with the second interview and thus the party unanimously voted for Matea to fill the role of high captain. The other slot was slightly harder as there was still concerns about if Laryana was fit for the position, though eventually the party voted (With Xavier abstaining, citing a conflict of interest) in favor of Laryana. With the new high captains decided, they went back to Undertow to tell Atrixia of their decision. Atrixia accepted their decision and stated that the ceremony for the new high captains was to take place in the coming days. Atrixia also reassured the party that they didn't have to attend the ceremony though were free to come to the afterparty where the good drink was to be had. The peace was shattered however when a runner burst into the bar and ran towards Atrixia and the party. The runner brought news from the prison where Hurley was being held, someone had apparently killed Lord Governor Fariseu. Atrixia noted that this was unfortunate as initial diplomatic messages with Ord had promised the Lord Governor's return and with his death matters were complicated. Atrixia asked the party that despite their long day if they would look into the murder and see if the killer could be found so that at least they could be presented to Ord. The party accepted and geared up and headed towards the prison, unsure as to what they would find.