A Meeting of Minds (Part one)

May 10, 1889
2:00 PM

JP with Redsword, mdman, LucianNepreen, Jaxx, Lasersexpanther and Cindy

Elizabeth made her way back to the house, got cleaned up and asked the servants to prepare some tea, coffee and things to snack on. They did with relative speed.

The meeting was going to be in the largest sitting room which was in the back of the house, near the library. This room had enough space for everyone, an extra large chair. Table for the treats and a desk where Lily could take notes. Pens, of the time, were fountain pens with ink wells. These were however a new type of fountain pen, the pen had a tube which allowed it to hold the ink better. It would go about four lines before having to be re-dipped. Still, a desk was needed to be efficient.

Sung took his usual place and just asked for water with a few slices of lemon in it or what he called lemon water. Sung had a feeling this was going to be a long day for him. being Lady Elizabeth well adviser he probably took on more than he had to some times. Sung acted more like a chief of staff sometimes. Not that Elizabeth really needed that. She could handle herself quite well. in any situation.

He just waited on the others to see what was happening with their slice of the world.

Cronk slowly walked into the room. He wasn’t used to meetings. Meetings were for planners. Cronk wasn’t a planner. He was a doer. It was usually one of the planners who told Cronk to do something. And, Cronk would do it. That was the secret to his success.

In this meeting, he’d be a wallflower. Sit back and listen to the planners. Learn from their wisdom. Then, Cronk would do what the planners wished for him to do.

It wasn’t that Cronk wished to be a planner. It was actually quite the opposite. It was the planners who were usually stressed. Wondering if their plans were going to come to fruition. Cronk didn’t have stress. Not that a bottle of bourbon could help. Inwardly, Cronk smiled, knowing all the planners in this meeting would have the burden of stress. If he could, Cronk would take some of that stress of their shoulders, except for the fact that Cronk was not a planner. So, the stress was theirs to carry.

Volk made sure to enter the meeting room in good time. With the excitement after lunch he had grown nervous with the upcoming mission being in the middle of an urchin field, so to speak. He had been praying since, giving himself over to Metira’s graces, but as he took a seat opposite of Cronk he couldn’t shake the growing pit in his gut.

Dr. Jackal eventually made his way to the meeting and looked inside to make sure he was in the right room. After seeing it was indeed the right room he entered it and gave a nod to everyone one. He had to work in the lab for a bit to make a poison for Sasha after their meeting. Lily then followed the good doctor into the room and sat next to him. She had to nag the good doctor to keep track of time so he didn’t miss the meeting. This was becoming a regular thing for the doctor to forget all sense of time while working in his lab. Lily on the other hand brought a foldable desk/tray and a wicker basket full of office supplies. After Dr. Jackal sat down she set up the folding tray next to him and put the basket on top of it before she sat down. Then she looked in the basket and pulled out the note book, an ink pen and a jar of ink before putting the basket next to her chair to avoid stepping on it. She then set up the office supplies so she could take notes for Lady Elizabeth.

It wasn't long before Sasha arrived in rare form she was san coat and hat. "Apologies for my tardiness." she said taking an open seat.

"It seems as if everyone is here, so let us get started." Elizabeth began. "Clearly, the investigation has taken a turn. Lamaire must be aware of, at least some of us. Most likely myself, maybe Mr. Sung as most who know of me know of him. He has seen Cronk before. However, I believe that if he knew who other team members were he would have just waited to attack one of you, rather going after Clement. Still, this might mean we need to change tactics or speed up our investigation." Elizabeth explained. "This meeting to get ideas. Ideas for the investigation and ideas to make sure everyone who is a team member or works here is relatively safe."

The Eldren took a sip of tea, "Let us start with safety first. Starting with this estate, as it will probably be the easiest. I noticed gaps in the security along the fence line, that will need to be addressed. Also, there is the issue that really anyone could come to the front door. As most protection would be noticeable to the neighbors. Wards are an option but they cause their own issues." Elizabeth then asked. "Does anyone have anything to add regarding safety of the property?"

Cronk sat back in his chair, closing his eyes. He was a visual person. To think, he needed to actually picture it inside his head. So, he closed his eyes to focus and not be distracted.

In the quiet of the room, Cronk found himself being very relaxed. So relaxed that his head leaned back against the high back of the chair. In fact, the relaxation was so great that Cronk soon found himself drifting to a good snooze. It seemed that even trying to focus that the quiet distracted him.

"Nothing comes to mind at the moment." Sasha said. "Armed guards doing tighter rounds for starters, but otherwise I would need some time to think." She explained. "And if possible moving people along that linger near the gates for to long or people 'acting' lost."

Then Dr. Jackal rubbed his chin for a moment before taking, “Well if we really get into this topic, I am sure there are a number of measures we can take to increase security. However we need to consider going overboard and end like a military compound. Also we need to keep in mind what kind of person Dr. Lemaire is. It’s obvious by his past actions that he will not attack through the front door. Right now he seems very determined to perfect my research to the point of endangering himself. His chance meeting with any of us ended in him running away and have made him more desperate. My advice is to guide him to an area where he is easier to capture. We can do this by finding a way to remove his access to his research materials, such as buying them out, closing them down or spy on them till he shows up. Then leave one place left for him to get materials from and spring a trap. Of course this is all hypothetical and needs more planning on your part.”
Lily was frantically writing the whole conversation between all the members for Lady Elizabeth in hopes she had all the details available.

As Cronk fell deeper into the sleep stage, images began to dance in his mind. One never thought orcs could dream, but they could. Cronk was helping build something. Much to his delight, the person he was helping was Pretty Flower.

Of course, as with those that fall into a deep sleep, a most awful noise began to come from nostrils, then his mouth, once his jaw became slack from total relaxation. It sounded much like gears grinding together because they were out of sync and were not lubricated.

"We also know that Dr. Lamaire is increasing his tactics and he is somehow linked to the Children of The Sea. The Children tried to kidnap Miss Lavigne , in broad daylight."

As Elizabeth was speaking, Cronk’s sleeping noises became louder. "Excuse me a moment." The Eldren went to the bar pulled out a bottle of top quality Irish whiskey, opened it near enough that Cronk could here and then let the aroma make it way towards the Orc's senses.