Pre-Meeting

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

Cronk cautiously approached the elevator, thinking there would not be enough room for him and all the others at the same time. When the doors opened, he glanced inside and was surprised.

“It bigger inside!” Cronk exclaimed in bewilderment.

Elizabeth smiled at Cronk, "The headquarters has some surprises."

Elevators were known for being convenient though not what anyone would call a smooth ride. They were usually very slow, small and noisy from the steam powered clockwork engine that made the lift move.

This Elevator however was clearly a little superior to most, not only was it larger, it was also quieter. The sound of the engine was extremely muffled to where it practically couldn't be heard at all.

The ride itself was much smoother than expected, but it was still slow. It took several minutes to reach the top floor.

When they finally arrived on the third floor, Flora escorted them down a hallway to the left. The third floor had beautiful inlaid marble in a patterns of moons and stars all over it.

To room 4, Flora opened the door to reveal a decent sized meeting room. To the side was a long table with a pitcher of water, a carafe of tea and one of coffee along with cups, sugar, honey and a small metal pitcher of milk.

Chairs, of varying sizes, sat on one side of a long table, in the middle of the room.

"Please, make yourselves comfortable, the Baron will be with you shortly," Flora said, before leaving the room. She closed the door behind her.

Elizabeth poured herself a cup of tea, adding honey to it. It wasn't anything extravagant but at least it wasn't just water, which left hope this meeting might not be as bad as Elizabeth had thought.

All the seats were padded and looked quite comfortable, one was larger than the rest, one had a step stool near it.

Elizabeth shook her head slightly, it seemed as if the Baron knew there would be an Orc with them, but how could he? Cronk had only joined the team yesterday and Elizabeth hadn't had time to send a message to the Baron about Cronk or Vor. She didn't fret about it however, if he knew, he knew nothing to be done about it now. Instead, Elizabeth took a seat in the center and sipped her tea.

Dr. Jackal saw the coffee on the table and after seeing Lady Elizabeth help herself, he had an urge for a nice cup of Joe. So he helped himself to some coffee and added sugar and creamer for a little flavor. Then he made it a point to sit as far from the Baron as possible. He was hoping to avoid any trouble he had caused already.

Sasha wasn't prone to attaching herself to someone's hip but she took a seat next to Dr. Jackal. Only for one reason despite knowing he couldn't Sasha always felt like the Baron was seeing under the mask so she wanted to avoid his eyeline as much as she could.

Cronk entered the meeting room. Spying the pitcher of water, Cronk picked it up, happy that they gave him a drink his size. He gulped down a healthy swig, draining the pitcher to half full.

“Ahhh!” Cronk exclaimed, wiping away what had dribbled down his chin with an arm. “Water good!”

Seeing a rather large chair, the orc assumed it was placed there for him. He walked to it, pitcher of water in his hand, and sat down, testing the limits of the comfortable leather.

Elizabeth made sure to keep the seat on her right open for Mr. Sung to sit next to her.

A half-dwarf came in, he stood about 5'3" so taller than a dwarf but shorter than most human men. He had distinctly brown eyes and hair. His beard was also brown but not as curly and lush as most dwarves were. His ears were definitely pointed.

He glanced around the room, bowed slightly to Elizabeth and then Tristan, seemed to count the number of occupants and just huffed at Cronk drinking all the water. He then left the room, returning shortly with two more pitchers of water.

The half-dwarf walked up to Cronk and in an extremely thick German accent, with a slightly annoyed tone, "You - the water is for all."

He then walked away from Cronk and over to Lorem. He gave her a smile. "Guten morgen, schöne dame."

Watching the water being carried off, Vor settled for some tea. While not the biggest fan, it would have to do as opposed to what was now filled with Cronk's saliva. He sat a few seats down from Elizabeth and began going over his notes some more, making sure to correct errors and continue translating.

Dumont was not particularly fond of the Baron Greenwood as he was an overindulged, temperamental spawn of affluence who stuck his nose up at those of the lower classes, much the same as Dumont’s grandmother behaved. Their kind did their damndest to hide their disgust and patiently tolerate their underlings, especially those who they could make use of.

Dumont liked to imagine that Greenwood was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and a silver knife in his hand (for dealing with his enemies) and certainly, the Baron had the history and conduct to prove it. Dumont got the feeling Greenwood was only made leader of the Paris headquarters to keep him occupied and at bay.

Personally, Dumont would have liked to see a true Parisian take the role, but the Order was only led by British Eldren and he knew that if he wanted to remain within the Order, he would have to, at the very least, stay on civil terms with the Baron. It was lucky for him that Greenwood counted him amongst his allies, for their was no in between. He either liked you or despised you.

Dumont took some coffee and prepared to schmooze and played the part if he needed to.

Dr. Jackal sipped his coffee hoping to avoid talking to anyone. He was a bit surprised that Sasha sat next to him since she was an experienced member of the Order already. To sit away from the main members and host made him wonder just how difficult their host would be. Granted Lady Elizabeth asked him kindly to avoid getting involved with the Baron, but he was not sure if the Baron would also avoid him as well. Since the Baron knew who and what he was, Dr. Jackal hoped that he was not a fool who would poke a bear with a stick. He didn't want to have to apologize to Lady Elizabeth for breaking the Baron and smashing his very lovely home. Ironically the coffee was very good. He wondered where they got the beans for it.

Lorem was going to get water; however, Cronk had confiscated the entire supply before she had a chance. Perfectly content to get tea instead, she waited patiently for her turn. Passing the time was a breeze, as she was trying to imagine how the elevator functioned to produce the muffled noises. She was able to revert back to her original choose when she noticed the half-dwarf return with more water.

Lorem blushed to his greeting and curtsied. Despite her working with iron and steam, her demeanor was tempered with all the feminine charms of agreeableness that could make any man feel the esteemed affirmation of respect.

“Guten Morgen, Sie sind sehr freundlich, Sir.” She smiled and then bashfully made her way to her seat to join the others.

Saying little Sung seems to be more fidgety than usual. He was not so pleased to be there. Sung had a long talk with Duke Ellington before Sung had left about the Baron Greenwood he was not like much in some circles. Looking around things were a bit too plush the Baron was staying to make a statement. But Sung was not impressed action spoke more than words and possessions something that The baron appear not to know.

Sung did notice the extra chairs and other things about the team. If the Staff saw them get off the bus and made quick changes then they were one of the most efficient servants he had ever seen. Sipping his tea Sung thought about everything that had happened so far.

Sung looked at everyone carefully wondering if any told Baron Greenwood. "My Lady, I feel that Baron Greenwood is watching our team too close. I don't want to think it is someone from our team," said Sung to Elizabeth almost in a whisper.