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Dimitri’s pretense of civility was more transparent than a Daltinian window but far less appreciated. Faust’s brows narrowed subtly at first, but his glare was shortly supplanted by a sudden calm that painted over his elegant features. Despite the human’s rudeness, he was trying to make amends and conceding some ground, enough so that the Prince of Har’oloth finally recognized the mediocre diplomat that was the Duke of the Wladisyaw family. “There is no need for false modesty.” the dark elf said, dismissing Dimitri’s attempt with a casual wave of the hand.
“And make your assumptions if you will, but not all men are possessed of such vices.” Faust assured. His tone was neither disrespectful nor challenging, but merely stated as a matter of personal opinion. Sighing deeply, the dark elf’s ebony fingers tapped rhythmically upon the edge of the table, his head periodically nodding as he listened to the human speak. “But your proposal is tempting. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe that both you and I have no interest in seeing the Imperial Government in power here. They have done nothing for this city, nothing good at least, and I for one would enjoy a realm devoid of their incompetence.” Eyeing Dimitri to see if he concurred, the dark elf waited before continuing, “Our current Thane is a fine one, but a part of me feels as though the Imperials are patiently waiting for her to give them reason to encroach upon this city. This must be prevented at all costs, would you agree?”
Finally, the Vysstichi Lord was beginning to understand that both he and this human shared more in common than he’d originally believed –perhaps their rivalry could be resolved without bloodshed after all. “I am certain that a mining agreement could be arranged. The First House of Har’oloth, like the Second House, has every interest in maintaining its inflow of wealth. I don’t see how this would be a problem. The details will have to be fleshed out later, of course, but I assure you that we should be able to come to some sort of understanding.”
Pausing to reorganize his thoughts, the Prince of Har’oloth nodded in accord as the topic of religion surfaced. “I have no quandary with either extreme, but one must naturally wonder if a Temple to Jorel would counterproductively give the Imperials more reason to invade us. I have nothing against such an order, but to establish one so publicly might work against us. Perhaps you might shed some more light upon what you have planned so that we’d be better able to accommodate you?” Again the ideas were beginning to flow, and as they did, the dark elf realized that his respect for the human was progressively rising –slowly, but surely nonetheless. “I have nothing against us combining our resources, but there is one matter of importance that I must know from you. You say that your loyalty, some of it at least, belongs to the Second House. Surely you have heard word that the Third House of Har’oloth even now prepares its armies to march against the others…how would you propose to deal with this?”
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