Pardisal

Pardisal watched as the settlers put up the gates to the city. He sipped his wine, it was expensive, from some godforsaken backwater of Stygia, but it wasn’t as if he had paid for it though. He watched the other settlers working hard in the sun and flicked some dirt off his robe, yes he thought this would do him just nicely.

He had only heard about this new settlement a few days ago, when a ragtag bunch of travellers had passed him hauling a variety of building materials from the window of the Inn he was staying at. Being naturally inquisitive and with a sense of opportunity he rushed after them, offering a blessing to the innkeeper on the way out (Instead of payment of course, a blessing was far more valuable than mere gold). They didn’t travel far, and they were heading away from the Fields of the Dead and all those cursed Vanir.

He stopped and chatted with a few of them on the way, gave them some encouraging words and then moved onto the next group, making new friends. He was careful to stay away from the other Priests of Mitra, they were probably the same over-the-top sorts he had encountered back in Aquilonia. If only they hadn’t been so damn pious he would still be living the good life he was accustomed too. These travellers were from a far off city called Tronac and were building an outpost here, to be called New Tronac. It was a bit of a boring name, he was sure he could have come up with something better.

Now, after a few days the industrious work of these people had paid off, not only had they already built a fine looking keep, but also a several supporting buildings as well. And from the looks of it there were some strong walls coming. Excellent news as he eyed one of the various Pict tribes roaming the plains. He had already decided to stay away from the Temple, if he heard right then it was going to be shared between all the various worshippers in the city. Not only was this a scary prospect, it was downright dangerous. Not just because of the Setites, but also if there was an official High Priest of Mitra then he might have friends in high places back home, although it was unlikely.

No, Pardisal thought, the best thing to do was probably gain the ear of a few of the important members of this place and try and get private rooms somewhere, he had more than enough money to go around, and there were also those flashy spells he could cast. They didn’t do much anymore but sure looked impressive, and with Stygians roaming around the city freely it shouldn’t be too hard to find a worried ear.

Of course he had long term plans, but they could wait for now, first thing to do was get settled in, make some friends and do some favours for people. Oh and he had a score to settle with those lously Vanir, he needed to get his Gem back urgently, it was far too important to be left in the hands of the savages.

Yes indeed, this would do nicely…

Pardisal

Pardisal had only been there a couple of weeks and already things were looking up, way up. He had just been generally chatting to the local citizens, listening to thier moans and gripes and it seemed that they were all distinctly unhappy with the state of the trade post. There just wasnt enough time to organise it, with all the building work going on, and new citizens arriving daily. Here was his chance.

A quiet word in the ear of those that were running the show and he had volunteered his services to help manage the funding of the town and to keep everything in a good working order. Sure it took up a fair chunk of time each day and as a bit of a thankless task, but once everything was up and running hopefully he would become a well known and respected figure of the community, maybe even a few years time he would try running for ocuncil. Everybody knows those people who work with money have a lot of money themselves, and money buys respect. Finally.

Although he had to be careful, he didnt want a repeat of the scenario that happened at his last town, boy that was embarissing. Who knew you could get into so much trouble with a goat, the mayors daughter and a civic building!

Everything was not quite going his way though, he still had not recovered that which was lost, he had cleared nearly every Vanir camp in the Fields of the Dead and still no sign of it. It would call to him when he was near. Rumour had told him that the Vanir were allied with the White hand, he would have to find out thier leader and try some negotiations. But that was easier said than done, these savages seemed to only respect raw power, and as much as he was loathe to admit, flashy light tricks and vanishing animals just wouldnt hold up to well in the wilds.

He had heard of a teacher up in the mountains, someone who could teach him the necessary discipline to put more power into what he knew. Hopefully the man could be bribed, he didnt feel like spending too much time up there, there were rumours of cannibals...