Seldonia could hear muffled voices coming from the inner office ahead of her. She could not make out the words but the tone was quite telling. Someone was concerned about something and was trying to make their point heard quite clearly. She was summoned to here not only by High Lord Sook's personal page boy but by Talon Vastiner's as well. Two pages at her doorway within minutes of each other, she knew this was important and hurried to get here. Stepping up to the door she gave a single knock before entering, the voice she heard as she approached hit her full blast, “But Sirs, how are we to pay for all of this?!?!” It was the voice of Staker Moneybags, the current treasurer and financial consultant for the Silver Dragon's holdings. His face was red as a beet and his hair disheveled, the man looked haggard and in need of a week's worth of sleep. Lord Sook and Vastiner were there as well. The three men turned to look at Seldonia as she entered the room. Staker was first to speak. “Finally!” he snapped at her. “You seem to be the voice of reason here can you explain to these men that things cost money in this world!” He was ranting now, much to the amusement of the others in the room. Seldonia took the man by the shoulder and led him to a chair. “Sit and calm down. What is it that has you in an obvious, crazed state?” The man sat for a moment catching his breath and then in one long monologue he brought Seldonia up to speed. “I told Lord Sook that his idea was great, that the Stronghold really needed to have a face lift. I thought he meant he would have volunteers do some small repairs here and there and that would be all. I had no idea he meant a project of this magnitude. Over the years I had squirreled away some money as I knew one day the Stronghold was going to need some sort of repairing. The years of battle have taken their toll, not only on our citizens, but on our vault as well. We had enough for little things and upkeep, then Finleyville from the Silver Flagon Tavern comes knocking on the door a few weeks ago demanding payment for the tab that was run up the night Talon DoctorHoo was announced. It seems the people within these walls have hollow legs and drank most of what we had left!” Small fits of laughter could be heard to Seldonia's left, apparently Sook and Vastiner thought that bit of information was a tad funnier than Staker did. He threw a scornful look in their direction. “Laugh now, I will not be laughing the day you have to pay the bill to the men working out there,” he hitched his thumb toward the window. Seldonia had to choke backa chuckle herself, the man was quite comical in his expressions and the way he looked added to the humor of the situation. She decided she'd heard enough of him, any more and she might not be able to contain her laughter as well. “Staker, I see what you are saying, I think, you are telling us that there isn't enough in our coffers to cover the costs of the Stronghold beautification project?” Staker looked her dead in the face, “That is exactly what I am saying. We can not pay those men out there for the beautiful work they have done nor can we pay for the supplies they used to do it. We have to set a tax on the citizens!” Lord Sook stood, the humorous look on his face now gone, “We will not be imposing any such tax! We have never needed to do that and I do not intend on starting now!” The anger in his voice was unlike any Seldonia had ever seen from the man. It was time for his face to turn red, “the thought of you even suggesting such a thing makes me sick to my stomach!” He pointed toward the window, “Those people out there work hard every day, I will not force them to pay to live in a place I swore to make a sanctuary of fun! The citizens of this Stronghold are here to unwind after spending their days toiling in the fields and factories just outside these gates. There is no way I will be telling them that in order to do so they will have to pay a fee, NO WAY! Do you understand?” Staker was taken back a bit but stood his ground, “Again I ask then, How are we going to pay for all of this?!” Seldonia could see both points but to be honest stood with Lord Sook on this one. Her meager salary could ill afford to be taxed further as she enjoyed a lavish lifestyle and had run up her own tabs that needed paying. Perhaps she could cut back on a night of endless drinking at the Flagon and put that money toward the cause. “Donation!” she blurted out before her mind could stop her lips. The men snapped their attention toward her. In unison, “What?!” they exclaimed. Now it was her turn to be flustered, “Um, perhaps we could ask for donations from the Citizens? I know I could cut back on a night or two of being assaulted by Finleyville's attitude and fine spirits. I know it isn't much but, if enough folks did the same, perhaps it could cover the costs of the current facelift and if we are budget conscious, maybe more in the future.” The men stood staring at her, their mouths agape. “We have been arguing for nearly an hour in here over this situation. None of us had even thought of that. Well played Scribe, well played.” Sook smiled again, his anger from moments ago seeming to peel back. You could see his mind at work behind that smile. It was broken for a only a moment for him to say, “Since you said it, and since you ARE the Talon of the Scribe, I will expect you to get the word out there. As always the sooner the better. Be sure to let the people know where to send their donations.” he looked at Staker, “Moneybags, clean yourself up, you will be doing the collecting and counting, starting now. Get out and don't come back until you have good news.” Sook turned to Seldonia, “I see you are still standing here. Was there something else you needed? You have the location of Moneybags residence. Be sure people get it in your announcement.” Seldonia stood straight, “Yes Sir!” she said before turning to head for Sir Speedy's shop. “He's just going to love me, again.” She laughed as she walked back down the hallway away from the office. That evening the first batch of Speedy's posters arrived at her residence. Seldonia liked what she saw, “Speedy you've done it again.” She said out loud to no one as she spread the poster on her dining table. Dear Citizens of the Silver Dragon Stronghold For ten years the Stronghold has housed this community at mainly no cost to the citizens. It has become home to many of us and we are proud to call it such. I think we can all agree that updates were needed for our home to stay a happy place for all. These changes came at a cost, one in which our coffers can not cover alone. The Dragon is in need of your help. Please Donate to the cause.
