Perennia Colfax: For Profit and Prosperity
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The temple to Waukeen in Telflamm was drab, by Waukeenar standards. The ornate wall mosaics, though intricately carved and pieced together by the finest artisans in the land, contained only ravenar, sapphire, and emerald insets – not a single diamond, ruby, or jacinth in sight! The lavish silken tapestries draped across the walls were fashioned of inferior homespun silk, not the pricey imported Sembian variety. The innumerable pieces of baroque statuary and decoration were in fact forged of silver and only plated with gold!
Overgold Sariila Tebrentan saw the oh-so-dire straits her temple was in, and, like a true Waukeenar leader would, was in the midst of taking aggressive efforts to counteract this dry period of commerce.
She had taken note of her most promising young priestesses – lowly things, having only recently attained the rank of Coin -- and was preparing to launch one of the most vigorous trade campaigns in her short career as Waukeenar Overgold of Thesk. Stunningly canny and ruthlessly crafty, Sariila planned to send a dozen of her finest Coins, nearly half the number of her lesser clergy, across the face of Faerun to spread the profit and prosperity of commerce to areas most in need of its enlightenment. This would, of course, benefit the temple at Telflamm, since all of these priestesses were obliged to tithe twenty-five percent of their profit back to their home church. A perfect deal, Sariila was convinced, and it seemed as if she was right.
A few days after the high festival of Tehennteahan, the Overgold and her twelve Coins assembled in the temple's vaulted and ornately decorated (but not ornately enough, of course) meeting chamber. One by one, each young cleric was assigned to some remote region of Faerun and given explicit instructions regarding what to expect and what to do.
The last Coin to receive her commission was a pretty young girl by the name of Perennia Colfax, the child of a large merchant family based in the town of Phsant on the Golden Way. She had been sent to the big city by her family at a young age, her parents always looking for a handy way to increase their fortune -- having one of their daughters as a priestess of Waukeen would be perfect.
Little did they expect (or really care one way or their other) that their daughter would be shipped away in the service of the Merchant's Friend.
"Coin Colfax, you are hereby bestowed the honor of spreading the prosperity of trade to the benighted peoples of..." Overgold Sariila paused to check something in a gem-studded notebook. "...the town of Norwick in the country of Narfell. You will be given supplies and a limited sum of gold coin as starting capital, along with an escort into the region. You will follow the dogma of our Lady in establishing a network of commercial associates in the region. You are to issue reports on your progress every two months, along with the required tithe. Do you have any questions?"
"No, Overgold," stated Perennia earnestly, her conflicted feelings of fear and expectancy only slightly betraying themselves in her eyes. "I will serve the Merchant's Friend Waukeen to the very best of my ability."
Sariila dismissed Perennia with an incline of her coronet-bedecked head.
By the next day, Perennia found herself on a caravan headed up the Golden Way in the company of a pair of dull Waukeenar Trabbars. After a few uneventful tendays, the caravan rolled into Norwick, leaving the moment Perennia stepped off. She watched it careen off into the distance with pursed lips.
"Hmm... Well, it looks like it's time to make a name for myself. Better get started... Wouldn't want to keep the Merchant's Friend waiting."
With a friendly-looking smile, she began her ambitious search for profit and prosperity.
NWN Account: JBirdL
Character Name: Perennia Colfax
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Reviewed - XP Pending.
