The Watcher

A Word to the Wise

The dying firelight flickered through the empty wine glass sitting upon the
coffee table, leaving in it's wake strange glowing shadows upon the stone
wall of the round chamber. The dark form of a man was stretched out upon a
couch in front of the fire, showing no signs of waking up any time soon.
Soft snoring reverberated throughout the room, orchestrating with the crack
that occassionally came from the fireplace. The serenity which blanketed
the room was suddenly shattered as the door burst open and a young man with
glasses perched upon his nose threw himself into the stuffy room. The dark
form upon the couch, promptly rolled onto the floor in tangles of blankets
and a cloak. A tall figure, shot up from the tangle upon the floor, in his
hand a narrow crooked wand. A brilliant flash of white light, brought the
chamber to full illumination, as a bolt of energy surged from the wand and
writhed it's way towards the man in the glasses. With reflexes reflecting
that of a cat, the spectacled man leapt out of harm's way as the door that
lay behind him exploded into splinters.

"Mystra's garter Throm! You need to be careful with that thing!"

The dark figure still covered in blankets slowly lowered his wand. With a
sigh he plopped himself upon the couch, pulling the remaning blankets back
up beside him.

"Use my Lady's name in vain again brother of mine, and I won't be missing
next time. What are you doing rushing in on a sleeping man like that Mavin?"

"I thought you might be studying or sleeping upstairs at this hour..."

Throm nodded to both the empty wineglass as well as the empty bottle beside
it. Picking up the large tome which had been tossed to the floor as well,
Throm closed it and set it upon the coffee table, speaking to Mavin who had
finally picked himself off from the floor.

"Besides, in this cold weather I have found it far warmer down here than my
own room or study."

Shrugging, Mavin adjusted his glasses and took a seat on the couch, warming
his hands towards the glowing embers lying in the fireplace. Throm sat in
silence as his mind adjusted to the waking world. He still couldn't help
but wonder what had caused such a rushed intrusion into the Common Room.
Giving Mavin time to reconcile his thoughts which had no doubt been cast
aside due to his recent assault, the two sat in silence for what seemed to
be minutes. Finally Mavin sat back against the couch and spoke.

"It seems we've ran across of some...financial troubles brother. It's not
like the old days when we could run down to the pawn shop and trade our
way out of trouble. And with Darius having left, we can't count on easy
ideas to fill the coffers."

Throm frowned. He had picked up the bottle and had been attempting to empty
it's non-existant contents into the also empty glass. Shrugging, he gave
up his venture and set the bottle back down on the table. Stretching like
a cat would before the fire, he leaned back trying to remember where he had
left off in his book. As if an afterthought, he turned his half closed eyes
to Mavin.

"I trust we can afford another bottle of wine eh? In any case you of all
people should know how little I care how wealthy I am. Money comes and it
goes, we'll build the account back up again."

Nodding to himself, Throm fully closed his eyes, trying to allow the heat of
the fire to once again take him into the folds of sleep of which he had been
so lovingly wrapped before the rude intrusion of his younger brother.

"Throm. I concede that we are not going to have to sell the Manor or what
not, however this cargo strike is causing strain on every person and crew
involved in the airship industry!"

Opening his right eyelid, Throm glared in irritation at Mavin for but a few
moments before shutting it once again. He was aware of the financial cuts
resulting in the Worker's Strike, however as in most things involving the
general populace, he had already resolved to ride it out. Besides, this
would not be the first time Throm had cut back on expenses, and probably
not the last as well. His eyes still closed, he murmured something in low
tones so that Mavin had to strain to hear.

"I'll heed your caution however Mavin. First thing tomorrow morning I will
pay a visit to CloudRunner Industries. As it stands they owe me a favor or
two, so I'm sure knowledge of the more lucrative trade routes won't be too
much to ask...especially as our cargo hauls are not in competition with the
current loads they carry."

Satisfied with his own answer, Throm began to wonder if he might find more
peace within the retreat of his own bedroom above. His thoughts were all
at once confirmed as Mavin pulled a newspaper from beneath his own cloak and
tossed it on Throm's lap, muttering in mock disgust.

"CloudRunner Industries was forced out of business last week. Don't you
stay up on current events? According to the article, they no longer had
the funding to maintain their fleet."

Throm was now paying attention to every word coming out of his brother's lips
with great interest. CloudRunner Industries had been the largest air cargo
company in Westbridge for the past three years running. He had, on many
occasions, worked in cooperation with the large enterprise whether it be
lending an extra ship, or magical knowledge of a rare flight route. For
such a company to go under came as a surprising blow to the wizard. True
to Mavin's words, this strike was sucking the life from the industry.
The younger of the two stood, adjusting his cloak.

"In any case, it would come as great surprise if it were truly found that
Vector is paying their citizens more than Tripower is. The sooner that the
documents released by Vector are proved false, the sooner the workers return,
thus the sooner Tripower can afford to pay their pilots properly."

Throm shook his head in disagreement with his brother. He was certain as well
that the Vector Government was lying about paying higher wages, however it was
also clear to him that although the Tripower Government was the lesser of two
evils, it was still a government none the less. As most governments, it had
an agenda of it's own and could not be trusted to release the entire truth
all of the time.

"For arguments sake, should it be found that Vector is paying their employees
far below what Tripower was...it is probably still less than what Tripower is
paying even now. And should knowledge that Tripower was overpaying their
pilots by such gross margins become public...the Tripower Government would
not be so rash as to return the wages to what they once were."

Nodding as if in agreement, Mavin made his way to the shattered doorway he had
walked through just minutes before. Throm stared down at the couch, once again
lost in thought.

"Yes, the payoff would not be nearly as high, but it would certainly be better
than it is now once Tripower had more money coming through. But I suppose we are to do nothing but sit here and wait eh?"

Throm continued to stare off into the couch. Reaching down, he lifted up the
newspaper that Mavin had thrown to him and brought it level to his eyes.

"No...we will be leaving for Torregiano in the morning. Perhaps we might be
able to find a little more about our situation there. Until the morning, I
bid you good night."

Standing, Throm did not wait for his brother to reply. He promptly made his
way to the staircase and disappeared into the darkness above. Mavin stood
motionless and puzzled in the doorway, watching Throm retreat to his chambers.
His eyes dropped to the couch where Throm had left the newspaper lying. In
the dying firelight, a bold headline could be made out across it's frontmost
page depicting the words:
'FOR THE PEOPLE BY THE PEOPLE, Tripower announces it's intent to instate the Tripower Congress'.