>>5384458>>5384381>>5384348>>5384346>>5384215>>5384176“Tell me more about the Blackmantle Corporation, and the other corproationsss here in Bloodrise,” you demand, “or I will sstrip away your own furss and throw you into the ssnow, to ssee how YOU fare, dwarf.”
He gulps, but nods, and begins rattling off a number of facts and figures about his uncle’s corporate holdings. They apparently include a number foe lases such as they exploited here, as well as more permanent land-holdings and a complex international banking apparatus in a placed called ‘Lastcastle’, a heavily-fortified city which the Delegate describes as ‘the last great city entirely owned by the dwarven peoples’ with a certain amount of pride.
Another race in decline, then, like the elves? Like your own? You ask, leaving out the second part, and he scowls.
“Disenfranchised, but NOT in decline,” he insists. “Humans and damnable orcs drove us out of many of our ancestral homes, but dwarves adapt and endure! That’s what the corporatiosn are for—more flexible and open than a clan, less geographically-centralized than a country, but it keeps us together, and keeps us all working towards the good of all.”
“What other corporationsss have invaded my home?” you ask.
“Besides Blackmantle… There’ll be Gems-B-We, who are specialists in finding, cutting, and setting rare jewels for the wealthiest humans… Graphite-Grey, who are more about land acquisitions and long-term investments, especially debt-acquisition, but also dip their toes in mercenary-work and politics… and Treasuretrove Incorporated, who are more an ‘adventurer’s guild’ than a proper company. Pah, even letting in halflings, these days…”
A lot of what he explains to you beyond this goes over your head our lands squarely outside your intersecting fields of interest and competence. Perhaps it would make sense to have the Delegate speak more with the South-Merchant later, who is better equipped to understand such matters? Or maybe this puffed-up merchant-noble has served his purpose?
