[color=0072bc][b][u]Alessandro de Bladelli[/u], Owner of [i]Banco Bladelli[/i], Head of the Bladelli Family[/b][/color]

The Palazzini di Veranti, like the other abodes of Veranth, had long been infested with opulence and glutton. Overstretched and corrupt, the Duke dangled himself from the strings of overspending and wasn't far from meeting his maker thusly. Alessandro turned his nose up at the gathered hosts and kept mostly to himself on the periphery of the room. It wasn't to be for long, however. The emergency council initiated and Chairman Ignatius Cremini--at the head of the room--requested that nominations be held for the good of the city.

Few in the room knew not the name of the Bladelli family. Their centuries long banking prominence had long held Veranth in the balance when it might yet have fallen. While the [i]Banco Mora[/i] was a worthy competitor, Bladelli's storied tenure of mercantilism and profiteering [i]for[/i] the people had cast them in a most favorable light. Not mere moments that some gaudy dressed miscreant from South Verant stood to nominate himself for Master of Arms that Bladelli stepped into the center of the room. His tunic was plain and maroon, with a single golden stripe down the left side, and his stature no more graceful. He raked in those present with wandering eyes, finding--but never acknowledging--the likes of [b]Giovanna di Mora[/b], the heiress of the Mora Bank and Marquise of the Reach and [b]Rodrigo Nantua[/b] himself.

"[i]Good people of the City[/i]," he said at last, turning to address others to whom he had had his back turned. "[i]Is this not but one of many grievances that has befallen us? Is this not.. merely another test? Have we not suffered enough? The Church may yet find further sinners among us, and damned be them; but the city of Veranth must not waver. For too long, my family has remained absent from the political sphere, free from it's temptations. For too long, we have allowed other--more deceptive--men to take hold of this once grand city.[/i]" He tipped the embellished goblet in his hand to his mouth and from it, whet his lips. "[i]For too long, brothers, sisters, friends; we have stayed in the shadows. No longer! I, Alessando de Bladelli, of the [i]Banco Bladelli[/i] and head of the Bladelli family, would humbly bequest the nomination as your [b]Master of Coin[/b]. Under it, I would see it Veranth be made a capital of trade and industry. Those under the auspices of sloth might once again find work, and those laboring under the delusions of poverty might be released from it. Chairman, Thank you.[/i]"

Bladelli, per his custom, slipped from the fore back into the crowd almost immediately following his speech.