3. The Election Campaign of Chadwick Whyte

The Election Campaign of Chadwick Whyte


  • Chadwick begins his campaign with a packed rally outside the Seafarers Guildhouse, where he ascends the steps to speak to the crowd, his richly embroidered cloak showing the age old colours of the Guild, mirroring the flags behind him. When he speaks his voice is prestigated clearly across the crowd for all to hear. Armed Seafarer guards keep an eye for any trouble makers.

    "My dear friends and fellow citizens. Many of you know me, I have worked with you and your families here at the Seafarers Guild in the docks all my life. For those of you who are seeing me for the first time, I hope it will be the first of many. I am Chadwick Whyte, Senior Treasurer of the Seafarers Guild, second to Vaster Ashald and as you no doubt already know, I am campaigning for a seat on our illustrious Senate.

    I will not bore you with a long winded account of my background, or how different I am to the other candidates. I will merely say that no candidate has more economic experience than I do, no candidate is a greater expert in mercantile affairs than I and no candidate can save our fair City from the poverty and bankruptcy left to us from the War more effectively than I can.

    It has been with my stewardship of the Seafarers accounts over the past ten years that our Guild has made a continued profit. But I admit to you all, there is only so much joy and satisfaction a man can gain from making profit for his Guild, even if he is adept at it. I wish to turn my hand to the profit and betterment of my entire City, for I believe there is more worth in spending gold on our citizens than in hoarding it in a treasury.

    Thank you all for listening, I hope to see you all again very soon. Please enjoy the complimentary ales, wines and dried meats we have!"

    Chadwick descends the steps amidst thunderous applause to mingle with some apparently carefully preselected people from the crowd and to enjoy a glass of wine.


  • Dwin Dolvak takes steps onto a small crate and gives a very short message to the assembled crowd.

    I'd like to make something clear, for those of you that might not have seen through the… tomfoolery of recent days.

    He smiles wickedly and chuckles.

    Norwick has no financial interest in any of the candidates. I am sure this Chadwick fellow is a fine candidate, but I can guarantee you, once and for all, that he is not in my "pocket," nor are ANY of your Senate candidates.

    I'm not sure where my drunken kin got their political news, nor am I sure where they learned their musical skills. Both seem to be quite lacking, if you ask me. I am quite willing to ignore this as childish election banter… but when my PERSONAL property is effected then I feel I must step up and make a statement.

    I ask here and now that Peltarch's finest please pay attention to anyone defacing my property, and I invite any of you that have questions about Norwick's complete lack of interest in this election to come speak to me in the Exterminator's store. I should also mention that we have a sale on rat poison throughout the duration of the election. he smirks again

    Enjoy your day!

    He steps down as quickly as he stood up and heads back to the DOlvak shop.


  • An angry Dwin is seen in town, huffing his way through the district to his clan's store. He and Nor both go to work on the sign to remove it. In its place a hastily painted poster "DOlvak ExTerminAtion SerVIces" is nailed to the front door.

  • Legion

    //oops … that was supposed to be a PM!


  • _To the audible fury of Nor, the Peltarch market awakens to find that the carved wooden sign of Dolvak Extermination Services has overnight been somehow reshaped or replaced.

    It now reads, 'CHADWICK WHYTE ELECTION HEADQUARTERS'_


  • Aramuil eyes the comic, then bursts into laughter which doesn't stop for several minutes; he takes one copy and head off to the market to carry on his business.


  • _A beer wagon, piled with 'drunken' dwarves and 'barbarians' and festooned with the Norwick flag and crest, winds through the streets of the Commerce District with a huge banner over it reading 'VOTE FER CHADWICK PELTIES!'

    The dwarves swill ale and play (badly) an accordion, as the whole ill-favored lot of them sing:

    Vote for Chadwick, Chadwick Whyte
    Dwin likes him so he's all right
    Of taking gold he's not afraid
    No hard decisions need be made
    By our good honest man Chadwick
    He'll leave all that to wise Norwick
    Decisions and laws to be made down south
    He'll stuff our bread right down your mouth
    Our goods will pile up on your wharf
    You'll buy all from a foreign dwarf
    His guild gets rich, southrons as well
    The rest of you can go to hell
    Small businessmen need not be heard
    Pelt business thrive? The thought's absurd
    The Guild is good and Norwick too
    (We say THE guild, no room for two)
    With fierce Norwick we don't dare fight
    So vote for Chadwick, Chadwick Whyte!

    After making a few circuits of the market, it quietly vanishes._



  • ((I want to see the cartoon! )) 🙂


  • Leaflets can be found in the area of Whyte's last speech listing several incendiary comments attributed to past and present Norwick officials, most of which either implying that Peltarch is an enemy, a sewer, or a sink of depravity, or that it's noble class are a bunch of effete inbred idiots who will do anything for coin.

    It then ends with two things:

    "I believe the town of Norwick . . . I have a great respect for and a good relationship with their Chancellor. It is true they did not move to aid us in the War, but I am firmly of the opinion that they had little options available to them…" --Chadwick Whyte

    And a Cartoon showing a gloating Dwin and Aramuil looking over a paper labeled, 'BILL OF SALE: CHADWICK WHYTE'

    DWIN: "Indeed we can buy anything in the 'Jewel', e'en a Senator."
    ARAMUIL: "What fools these 'nobles', to sell their power to us like so many prostitutes! Ho ho ho! With our bought man, we shall ruin them and become ever richer."


  • After what many believe to be a lengthy sequence of private engagements with most Leaders of the Lower Guilds, fliers and criers are once again seen about town advertising Chadwick Whyte's third rally, this one to be held in the residential district, to a fine crowd. Many nobles are in attendance, sitting on fine wicker seats brought out from their estates by trusty househands.

    "Greetings all! It has been an illuminating few months, my friends. We candidates have all learned a thing or two on what the real problems facing our fair City are, after doing our share of listening and thinking. I think we are most fortunate in fact, that in this election, it is fair to say that most candidates are willing to engage in a fair and above the belt fight!

    I have been humbled by the feedback I have been receiving from my last rally, where I outlined my decision to halve accomodation renting rates and waive further increases for a year, and I can honestly say it is an excellent feeling to have addressed a key concern you all hold. It is this feeling of accomplishment, on your behalf, that I hope to maintain and build upon if you are kind enough to elect me to the Senate.

    There has, unfortunately, been one candidate who has not been so sporting in her campaign. I refer to the self-appointed champion of the people, Miss Martouscha Leaffall, who up until her most recent speech has run a rather worthy campaign. In what I can only assume is a somewhat desperate bid to draw attention to herself, she has railed out against my Guild, and our colleagues in the Harvest Union. I have a number of problems with why she has done this, and if you will good friends, I will air them with you as publicly as she has aired her own views.

    Firstly, Mister Hertwell and the Harvest Union are involved in an ongoing legal dispute, which has yet to be resolved completely if I am not mistaken. To use this as political capital shows real disregard for the due process to which the Harvest Union is entitled. I would ask her to leave legal affairs out of politics in future. As for her remarks regarding the Tyranny of Guilds, I think Guild Leaders such as myself were hardly the only ones offended. Guilds made this city what it is today! The Fisher King, who she refers to quite often, is somebody she clearly hasn't understood, as we all know he was the founder and leader of this city's first Guild, my noble colleagues the Wavebreakers!

    Almost each and every man and woman in this city is in the employ of a Guild in one way or another, and it is naieve of Miss Martouscha to expect these people to sudenelly resent their employers simply because she neither understands nor is supported by them. As for her own slogan of deeds before blood, I ask you what deeds she has to offer that have really helped you? I don't dispute her valour during the War, but this same courage has been shown by many others, including many of her fellow candidates. I think her slogan requires a little more to stay aloft than that.

    Now, on to one or two final concerns, bear with me friends, you have been excellently attentive thus far, and I imagine all these speeches are beginning to lose their novelty at this point, hahah! One thing which has been asked of me a few times, is what I might do in terms of continuing the reconstruction of the city, given we still have a ways to go and financially we are rather wanting. I believe the town of Norwick would be an ideal supplier of raw materials such as wood and stone, utilising the new river to transport the loads. I believe I would be well placed to broker such an arrangement, as I have a great respect for and a good relationship with their Chancellor. I know some of you are turning your heads at my mention of the place, and it is true they did not move to aid us in the War, but I am firmly of the opinion that they had little options available to them as well as which it is the future and not the past that we should be basing our trade decisions on.

    As a final matter, I know its almost certain everyone actually here is planning on voting, but I am guessing you all know at least one person who is not so interested, or is not planning to. I would urge you all to encourage them to vote, for whomever they wish, just as long as they do vote. This is one of the most important elections we will ever have, given the amount of seats vacant and so it is doubly important everybody votes. Now then, I will let you enjoy the rest of the day out, folks, may Waukeen value you all as I do."


  • Symone nods his approval chuckling quietly to himself as he notes the reactions of the people at the rally.


  • A second rally, this one held in the Commerce District, gathers large crowds due to rumours of some kind of big announcement from Chadwick Whyte.

    "Greetings to you all, and thank you for coming. I know there are some among you who are only here grudgingly. Who look at me and think that because I am from the Seafarers Guild, I have only profits and gold in mind. Like many before me, I dispute those claims, claims thrown against the single largest employer of honest citizens in this entire city!

    But of course, you have heard all this before. And many of you ignore it, and prefer to listen to Mister Hardin's tales of how his fine Guild, the Wavebreakers, are the only guild with Peltarch's best interests in mind! I would put to you that BOTH of our organisations are in business for business' sake! Both of them are seeking their fortune.

    But this does not preclude us from doing our civic duty. Wesley Hardin has claimed the monopoly on civic duty for far too long, simply because his Guild takes great pains to ensure every action taken "in Peltarch's interests" is highlighted and spread across the city.

    Allow me to reciprocate in kind, then. I have looked long and hard at how I and my Guild can ease the burden the war has left upon so many of our less wealthy citizens. The burdens of debt, hunger and homelessness. Well, I stand here today to make a contribution which will go beyond a mere empty electoral stunt. A contribution which will last long after these elections over, whether I win or lose!

    As of this moment, all tenants living in accommodation provided by the Seafarers Guild will have their rents halved, with a guarantee that the price will not be increased until a minimum of one year has passed! The extra money this will free up to households and families will give the People of this fine city the ability to catch their breath and recover from the poverty and plights left to us by the War! I would encourage my colleagues in other accommodation owning Guilds to follow my example. Thank you all for listening!"

    Chadwick bows lightly and hops down from the small stand to thunderous, and indeed surprised applause.

  • S

    Calen Ashwynd is seen at a gathering and approaches Chadwick politely. He introduces himself and humbly asks for a few minutes of his valuable time.


  • The following signs and banners appear across the city.

    "Make sure your choice is right; vote Whyte!"

    "A future with Whyte is a future that's bright!"

    "Only Chadwick Whyte can lead us out of poverty!"


  • "The Seafarers Guild, in so far as I am aware, is not seeking any new permits and is happy to continue trading with those it has. If any new permits were to be granted, I would of course evaluate those seeking them on a purely meritous basis, and were it my own Guild I would naturally abstain from voting."


  • You mentioned the senate assigns permits to chartered guilds for import and export. I know this question may seem out of line but I will ask it anyway.
    Do you intend to hold favor to your own guild in such matters, or will you evenly distribute opportunity to all those who are able?


  • "There is a difference in barricading a building, and barricading a city. Barricades only go up when it looks that a city's defenses are going to be breached. Fortunately I realised this well in advance.

    As for the economy, the Senate has the authority and power to regulate all matters mercantile, from assigning Chartered Guilds permits to import and export various goods, coming to trade accords with our neighbours and ensuring a lively market at home. As a Senator, I would ensure the correct decisions were taken to restore our coffers and enable earnest investment in the city again.

    As for investments, gold alone cannot help the city. It must be carefully decided the best uses for the limited amounts available in order to rejuvenate trade and commerce. These are tasks for a senator, not merely a wealthy individual.

    Regarding the Seafarers Guild, no I do not envisage any conflict of interests with my good friend Rath Ashald, nor do I intend to resign from any positions if elected. I have never heard of anybody doing so, aside from those holding a military rank."


  • Symone, after listening to the speech, request if he may ask a few questions of the candidate.

    I understand you were able to save your guild house during the war by having some secure barricades produced, would you say that the city might have been better served if you had the barricades produced around the entire city instead?

    Your speech tells me that you are a man who is capable of making one coin turn into two. How do you feel that this will help the city if you are placed on the senate? Perhaps you could explain which sectors of the economy directly fall under the senates control.

    Also, it seems to me that what you propose for the city can be achieved without the need of becoming a senator, through charities, donations and investments in the cities behalf, though that would require you to use your own money, but as you said what good does it do sitting in a treasury right?

    You are second to one Vaster Ashald, to my understanding there is an Ashald on the senate at present. Do you feel that there may be conflicting interests between you and senator Ashald should you be elected?

    Will you resign your position in the guild to take the seat of a senator or will you still be the Seafarers Treasurer?

    I will leave it at that for now, and thank you for your time.