[h1]Ereden, Sakera Port of Ereden[/h1] The city of Ereden was abuzz as always. Markets flowing with vendors from across the empire, people buying and trading wares by the pound. To carriages of goods and materials being sent up and down the streets. It was one of the busiest cities in the Kingdom. The port of Ereden was especially busy due to the amount of trade that happened through here on a daily basis. To the point where even the East Empire Company has set of shop and trades with Sakerian merchants regularly. Some of the lower-class merchants complain, since the buying power of the company exceeds many fo these merchants incomes combined. But the elite insist on keeping the company. Elite’s in Sakerian society are your snobby bunch. You see, in every major city besides Ereden there’s a governor. The governor is often a member of a family that helped House Winterfield to prominence during the coup d’etat a 2-3 decades ago. These families and their friends control the city by the balls in terms of local issues. Just recently there was a fire in Knoxville at a blacksmith’s practice. Rumor has it that the blacksmith wasn’t commissioned to operate so the ruling family in Knoxville (Ran by the Murlock clan) “took care of it”. The thing is however the elite’s don’t even attempt to hide these facts and prance around doing whatever they want. People complain, Damien at times intervenes but overall he keeps to himself. As long as public happiness is somewhat good, the gold is flowing through and the armed forces in that region are happy, he stays out of it. Tony Mangano was spotted getting out of the carriage with a man in a blue garment and a fur coat over him. A trade guild logo on his right breast pocket for the fur coat. “The election is coming up, and you people already know who your voting for?!” Exclaimed the fur coat male. “Enough Julian, Damien went over this with me and Randall. We have a good idea from the discover’s and the talks on the road and we know somewhat to an extent of what each of them brings” Tony replied. The male on Tony’s left, Julian was the son and heir to Family Green. Family Green was politically involved in the city of Gemfield. Their patriarch, Hugo Green was the governor of Gemfield for the past 6 years. The family in terms of people wasn’t as bad as compared to say the Murlocks, Benns or even the worst of the brunch the Fords. Yet the Green’s were notoriously known for leaving bastard children in their wake… The duo entered into a office with the Sakerian Trading Logo on it. The office was medium sized room with two people, one male and one female working at a desk. A map of Sakera and the Empire was on the wall with various small flags, lines and notes on it. To this date, Sakera has roughly over 50-60 trading posts spread across Empire land. This amount isn’t even including the one’s in Sakerian land. These trading posts serve a key purpose in allowing the flow of goods in Sakera to remain constant and not stop or stick as the guild calls them. But also they act as the eye’s and ear’s of Sakera… “Guildmaster, present surprise” the male said, as he stood up. “Guildmaster, what brings you here?” Asked the female, at her desk still. Tony sat at one of the seats, and gestured to Julian to sit at another. “Sitdown Apprentice Urich, learn from Journeyman Marigold here.” Urich sat down, and nodded, looking at both males. “Right, a few things. One, instead of sending 5 guards we’ll send one less, reports of highwaymen and cargo lost have gone down, run the numbers Urich and see how many guards we have left over” commanded Tony. Urich without word began to work on the number crunching. “As he does that, Julian you’ll be officially overseeing the docks of Ereden from now on, I’ll speak with your father and we’ll make a formal arrangement about his matter soon yes?” Tony said. “Right, Journeyman Marigold will help you get into the loop on operations in Ereden, another thing.. Any news from our friends about the EEC?” Asked Tony, looking straight at Marigold. “They been buying a lot of wares, wines, fish and furs. Probably preparing for the summit in the capital city” Journeyman Marigold stated. “Have they paid or is it on account?” Asked Julian. “Paid, with 2 more shipments paid for in advance” Marigold countered. Tony nodded as he heard this news. “Right, go along with the orders. Our Prime Magistrate is already at the estate. Is his order their?” Asked Tony. “Arrived three days ago, with another one arriving midnight” stated Marigold. “Guildmaster, we’ll have roughly 50 men to spare” stated apprentice Urich. Tony nodded before he looked towards Julian. “Get in the loop, I’ll be going” Julian stated, before departing the office. [h1]Lalrial Outskirts , Imperial Heartlands[/h1] On the outskirts of Lalrial, a manor with the House Winterfield banners is spotted. Gated around the initial front and back of the manor. Marble walls, windows with the finest of wood and pathways with perfectly cut stones were common site for this manor. Two fountains with the dragon, seen on the House Winterfield Banners were visible as well. Yet what alluded people wasn’t the large manor itself with many rooms, it was what was behind it. A pathway that lead straight to a horse track The city of Lalrial didn’t have a horse track, for racing horses. At most it had a few jousting fields for local jousting competitions. So, with permission from Damien and the city’s approval. The Sakerian elite raised a fund to create a five mile long horse track. The track is moderate to hard in terms of difficulty to even some experienced riders. Varying elevations, tight bends it requires the rider to be focused and remain in control at all times. Two major straightways exist, one is the starting straightway and the other is when the riders hit the third last turn near to the finish line. The thing about this track is however organizers for whatever events can slim it down to even a mile long if needed to, and has been done before. The Sakerian elite’s often ride horses here, or host local competition to pass time. The track itself has become some sort of local phenomenon in the capital city, attracting crowds of 200 to 300 people for it’s events that are hosted once a month in the spring, and twice in the summer months. Maintenance of the track is done by local workers, some of diverse ethnic backgrounds and a few Sakerians work here. The nearby stable houses 6 horses, one owned by Damien. Construction for another stable was on it’s way, to increase the capacity to 14 horses. Not to mention more bleachers were being made for the ever increasing demand of people wanting to see horses race. In the middle of the bleachers and at the top deck was where the nobility sat. 4 tables with bottles of varying wines were common sight. While people on the bleachers tend to drink local ale sold at stalls on the pathway leading to the horse track. Beside the bleachers was a small tent in a orange color with blue stripes. Usually, in that tent would be a bookie. The bookie would take bets on the race, on behalf of the Sakerian Trading Guild. It was a small time money maker since the city took “generous” taxes for the gambling profits. Now, back to the manor. The manor besides from being well built and kept was home to the Prime Magistrate or as the court called him: The Ambassador to the City. His name was Solomon Benn. Solomon was a interesting character to say at least. Everyone in Sakera knew he was a wild party animal who enjoyed the company of whores, booze and illicit activities. His father, the governor of Old Redden, a city known for it’s fur industry. With this the Benn family was a extremely rich bunch, after the state’s taxes. With a lot of money in his bank and influence, Senior Benn suggested to Damien that his son, Solomon took over the reign of Ambassador. At that time, Benn was a great man. Religious, church hell he even had a wife. But ever since his wife’s death to childbirth and his disownment of that child, he hasn’t been the same… “Get the fuck off me you filthy whore!” Solomon said as he threw a random whore off of him. He got up and changed into a simple silk shirt and some pants as the whores scampered out of the master bedroom. “Timmy! Get me a fucking cold glass of water!” Shouted Solomon, hung over from the night’s events. Two figures were seen entering the room after Solomon had called for his butler Timmy. One of them in a black cowl and the other in the red cowl. Randall let out a smirk as he held the glass of water in his hands. He then mimicked Timmy’s voice “Here ser” Randall said. “Thank fuck you can listen”, Solomon snatched the glass of water without even looking up at the face of Randall. He chugged the glass of cold water down before handing it back to Randall, who didn’t bother to grasp onto it. “Grab the fucking glass Timmy, I ain’t in the fucking mood” grunted Solomon. The second figure behind Randall closed the door, and stood near to it. “What the fuck are you doing you chum-..” Solomon began to say as he spun around only to face Randall. “Well well, Mr.Benn enjoying the life of opulence and luxury are we yes?” Chuckled Randall as he sat down on one of the chairs. The second figure removed her hood obscuring her face, she was a women. “This the diplomat you were speaking about Master Randall?” Asked the women. “Solomon, meet Lauren, one of my trusted advisors.” Stated Randall. “What.. what the fuck are you both doing here.. So fucking close to the city?!” Exclaimed Solomon, in shock of who he encountered. He gently place the empty glass of water down. “Lord Damien wanted me to check up on you, ensure you know what you are to do in a few days time yes?” Randall stated, before pointing to Lauren. She withdrew a sheet of paper with a strange red seal, the seal had a Dragon on it, probably representing a royal order straight from the desk of Damien. Solomon grasped onto the letter looking once at Lauren before opening the letter up. “Lord Damien, said that you and a party of 4 other people will be attending this function. Master Randall, I, Officer Henry York and Captain Madam Rogers. You’ll be with us the whole event and not to leave our sight since we four are your formal escorts. At the manor roughly 10 stationed men will be here at all times, with five plain clothes officers at the horse track guarding your assets. Your booze intake will be restricted to at most 3 glasses of wine and 2 mugs of ale as your booze intake-..” Lauren stated before she was cut off by Solomon. “Whoa whoa, I appreciate the protection and everything but your limited my drink, i think that’s abi-..” Solomon said before Randall cut him off. “Everyone in the fucking city know’s you're an alcoholic son, I’d rather not have you throw up over the royal carpet and become the new political mess for our House yes?” Randall stated as he got off from the chair. “Everything else is on the letter ambassador, your butler has gotten jewelry for you and the set of clothes for the day of the event. Don’t damage them before hand please. The guild paid good money for them” Lauren stated as Randall left the room without a word. She followed behind him, and placing her cowl over her head. “Wait, are you free on Thursday?!” Shouted Solomon as Randall and Lauren departed the manor.