Lorcan let go of an internal sigh. So exactly what part about them had put them above the threshold from which on the guards of this place considered an individual to be a potential 'ruffian' ? The Skayleigh darted a quick glance over towards those of their party that had been allowed to enter without harm and a spontaneous suspicion came into mind:

"Erm... excuse me, but is it a mere coincidence that we four clearly represent the more muscular part of our group ? Is that the criterion for you to decide who's to pay the tax and who isn't ?"

He had been a bard long enough to have some training in spontaneous talking, even though this time it was not so much meant for entertainment but for an actual conversation with some degree of sincerity.

"As someone who clearly is on the less agile side of things I can tell you that small people have their own methods for causing turmoil that are on equal terms with what 'ruffians' can do: A foul word here, a dagger there, a well placed spit in one's face or maybe even some scheming and you have people go after each other just as well. Of course you are not the city council, but I want to be honest and express my doubt about the validity of the chosen method. I do not believe it brings more security, but on the contrary..."

When referencing to 'foul words', Lorcan had a bit of a hard time not to look at a certain Burrahob. He did not want to cast anybody in a negative light here, but maybe for the others it was already obvious enough whom he was talking about.

"You are depriving the city of able bodied men and women since not everyone of them might be willing or able to pay the tax others do not have to pay in the first place. Yet at the same time you do not look at anybody's mental state or personality which, in my opinion, is the very first thing to check if you want to scan for potential troublemakers."

Lorcan took a deep breath before he continued.

"So, how long do you think will the city's economy be able to feed off such an imbalanced, greatly biased workforce ? And how long do you think will it take until the city council realizes that the current tax system does hardly improve security at all ?"

There were a few other things in Lorcan's mind still. That they could just wait for the next shift and make another attempt, speculating on none of the new guards having been told about their ugly faces, for example. Or that maybe he'd be able to convince Raddek and Reyvadin to carry him into the city in a plant tub in order to save 2 silver lordlings. Or did potentially malicious plants have to pay taxes in this place as well ?

[hider=Rolls]Persuasion: [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/22127]1[/url]

Does anybody know how frustrating it is to have to try and wrap such bad rolls into posts that make sense somehow ? :lol[/hider]