Party preparations

[Erinestra]

Erinestra entered the main room to see Elslanla draped artfully across a recently bought Chaise longue

“Elly dear, can I run through a few of the party expenses with you?”

“Of course.”

“The Telmori bouncers, don’t you think they are a bit, umm, intimidating?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well you know they look absolutely splendid of course, but those wolves they have hanging around, you don’t think they might, perhaps, eat someone?”

Elslanla rolled her eyes, Erinestra was a darling but she really did keep worrying about trifles: “Erry, I’ve told you before if they are good enough for the Princes of Sartar they’ll be good enough for us. Let’s not talk about it again. Now this, on the other hand”, she rose up and crossed the room to the fireplace and indicated the axe hanging overhead “really won’t do”. She cradled the items hanging from the axe head.

“But Elly, the Babeester Gori are some of my best customers!”

“Hmm, I know you like to remind everyone about how you killed that poor boy, but I think the dried testes might be a bit off putting for our male guests, don’t you think?”

The thought of alienating any possible customers was always the best way to get Erinestra to see sense “Yes, you may have a point, I’ll put it in the shrine room with the other Earth gods, the fellas will be too busy looking at the fertility statuettes from Esrolia to bother with a few axe adornments”. Erinestra frowned:

“I can see you’ve put the Dwarven works of fire in the garden. I was hoping to sell them to the army, I am not entirely sure they are safe for a party...”

“Don’t worry I drove a hard bargain with the Dwarf’s representative and he’s lent me a Jolanti to carry buckets of water from the well if anything goes wrong.”

“The dwarf? He never let’s anything go without making a profit somehow.”

“Don’t fret, it will be fine. If you really want to worry about something I think you should worry about those coupons of yours. I think you misunderstood what I was saying.”

“What do you mean?”

“I suggested you ‘loan’ people money to fund purchases in your Emporium. You seem to be giving it away.”

“True dear, but I want to help some of the up and coming citizens of Boldhome to climb the greasy pole, you know it never hurts to have customers who believe they owe you something!”

“Yes dear, but I think you’ve misjudged: that outlay plus the expense of this house not to mention the general party costs vastly exceeds our cash reserves”.

“Don’t worry Elly, I cast a divination to Issaries the Marketeer, you remember that aspect we discovered during that trip to your uncle’s place up near Alda Chur, and the God said we have to speculate to accumulate, and that if we wrote down a ‘marketing plan’ and made a burnt offering of it all would be well. Besides in due course I’d like to replace some of those dodgy moneylenders and thought to fully understand their business model I should borrow some money”.

Elslana sighed, these provincials were a bit hopeless but Erinestra at least had ambition and seemed to have the knack of making money, now where to put those cushions, imported all the way from Mirrin’s Cross, to best effect...