Inwin Selemont
Age and Appearance:
Inwin is unremarkable. His straw-brown hair is common. His flabby features are typical of a Sinver in luxury. His skin is pasty. He stands at the totally average height of 5'10 feet. His only saving grace is a bright pair of greedy green eyes, and a propensity for nice clothes.
Known for:
The Selemont family is well-known in Sinverland. They're a disproportionately powerful family of bankers, investors and- in Inwin's case- lawyers. In his youth, Inwin became known for traveling across Torivian in the service of nobles and merchants alike, working out deals on their behalf or weaseling them out of contracts they shouldn't have signed. Eventually, Inwin's reputation grew enough that- in combination with his family's omnipresent connections- he was able to secure a job with the royal family: working out a minor, insignificant trade route.
Inwin managed to transform that unimportant, low-profile deal into a massive contract. He convinced the foreigners to add on twice more than they originally agreed, and he negotiated a third-party deal for workers to pave a more efficient road along the route. All the while he made it sound like their idea, so when the bill came due, it was dirt-cheap. The King was, to put it lightly, impressed.
And when you impress a King, it shows. The entire Selemont family was elevated. In a mere few years, Inwin went from being only a glorified lawyer to becoming a negotiator on behalf of the Royal Family. He made his fame cutting golden deals with merchants and foreign princes alike. And the more he ingratiated himself to the King, the more high-profile his cases, and the more wealthy he became.
That wealth was not spent idly. He has also become known, in more recent years, as a successful business investor. In fact, before Inwin was selected as the ambassador, he seemed to be making the preliminary steps to starting his own trading company- which would have elevated him even higher on his climb to the top of Sinverland's social ladder.
Dirty little secret:
It's sometimes suspected that much of the Selemont family's original wealth comes from black markets, brothels and crooked bankers. That Inwin is so skilled at refuting these claims has helped keep their reputation mostly pure- but not completely.
On a more personal note, some of the smaller,
less powerful clients Inwin has so charitably worked with have claimed that signing his deals did them much more harm than good. However, if he does have contracts bearing fine print and hidden fees, he only offers them to clients he knows won't be taken seriously when they complain.
Skills:
-
Connections: not only with Sinverland, that is. Money passes all borders, and royal favor still opens a few. Inwin is that man who always "knows someone." Before he was a royal negotiator, Inwin worked with a variety of smaller clients. He still has a few old contacts in the more minor provinces and groups, who wouldn't usually get a voice in grand politics. And if push comes to shove, his family might know a man or two in the criminal underworld as well.
-
Persuasion: trained and practiced in rhetorical techniques, Selemont's words flow like honey. The honey might be poisoned, but it's a very smoothly flowing poison.
-
Observant: Inwin always pays attention to the little things. The details. That's more useful of a skill than it might sound.
-
Languages: You can hardly negotiate with men you can't speak to.
Motto:
"'Business' and 'politics' are both words for 'war.'"
Sigma,
abcbcb,
Enigmatik,
Timemaster,
abnormallory,
Gerlando,
Scrawl Banditta,
Snowdrops
