The Merchant Princes’ Emergency Council Meeting

The Merchant Princes’ Emergency Council Meeting  The party arrives in port before midnight and escorts Shago to Zhanthi’s villa. Zhanthi immediately begins confirming the party’s story through her confidants and informants. Due to the nature of having her only son and possible royal heir being threatened, her inquiries are quickly answered by dawn. Zhanthi agrees to pay 750 gp for not killing her son and an additional 750 gp for statements to council, but only  If Kwayothe is convicted . By breakfast Zhanthi has confirmed enough information to summon all merchant princes to the Goldenthrone for a mid-morning emergency session. Zhanthi brings forward the scandel against Kwayothe and requests council investigate and charge Kwayothe. There are a variety of rules, procedures and rules that Zhanthi refers to during her request. The more serious accusations follows: Blackmarket Purchase – buying a controlled service from non approved vendor Blackmarket Business – conducting blackmarket business Unlawful Assassination – planned and deliberate attempt to murder a person Attempted Murder of a citizen - planned and deliberate attempt to murder a citizen Breaking peace – attempt to disrupt the stable governance of the city Betrayal of the Merchant Prince Alliance – attempting to assassinate Merchant Prince heir Jessamine & Ifan Talro’a are the only two that appear not to be surprised by proceedings. Kwayothe denies any wrongdoing and denies meeting the party at all. She attempts to manipulate the truth and charm the other merchant princes. However, her charm does not overcome her poor attempts to defend herself and the previous biases of the other Merchant Princes. The majority of the council vote to bring Kwayothe under immediate investigation and search her office while the party gives their statements. The investigators find records pertaining to meeting the party and evidence to support the party’s version of events (ie. Payments and Omala). The party’s statements were able to convince the council that Kwayothe had hired them to assassinate Shago (despite Halvor bring Halvor). Omala’s statement also reinforced the party’s version of events. Kwayothe was arrested and held in jail until to be released in Executioner’s Run in 3 days alongside Omala as a final insult. Kwayothe’s property was seized by the council, while she was stripped of her seat. There is now an empty merchant prince seat and the council is even numbered. Zhanthi brings forward a motion to compensate the party using funds seized from Kwayothe's property. The council agrees and the party is awarded the right to collect 1,500 gp from Kwayothe's villa.  At the end of day, with everyone still present; Jessamine makes a point to announce that she is stepping down and that her daughter Ymezra will be taking the seat at the end of the week. Jessamine appears to be in very bad health and there are whispers that she will soon succumb to the Death Curse. This announcement, in front of everyone and entered into official records, secures her seat for her daughter. During the proceedings the politics of the Merchant Princes and their biases towards each other was laid bare for all to see. Annex: Statements Damkai Remembered most of the general events Did not resist well under cross examination Nonetheless his demeanour was seen as positive Charity Remembered all the details Resisted well under cross examination Impressed the council with her demeanour Lalatina Had difficulty remembering all of the events Resisted and countered cross examination Came off as professional and serious Her statement was given significantly more weight by her nobility background and obvious religious devotion Merell Remembered all the details Resisted and countered cross examination Overall demeanour was neither positive or negative Halvor Remembered nothing and actually stated incorrect events/details All falsehoods were caught by cross examination and tricked into making statements against the party’s motivations for coming forward (ie. Getting paid and being a Bro) Demeanour was negative; especially concerning above issues Was removed from the council room, and while not completely successful in intimidating the council; he did convince them that he was unstable and thus was banned from the Goldenthrone building. Omala He stated that he did indeed break the law to buy from blackmarket and that the party betrayed him. All merchant princes agree the party did the right thing to betray Omala since he had knowingly broken the law and supported the blackmarket. The agreement was only to escort him, not to help him escape justice. All merchant princes are happy with the party for doing this. Sent back to jail to be released in the Executioners Run in 3 days. Shago Forgets most of the details and honestly forgot about paying for party's statements Wisely sidesteps cross examination attempts to trick him Came off as an absent minded; but still honest Annex: Merchant Prince's Relationship Matrix