Norman rushed to get himself presentable. Jacob had just notified him that Grobert had returned an hour ago. But the man hadn’t left the teleporter building. And a gron delegation was now coming through the teleporter.
As he got dressed, he could hear the commotion downstairs as the main room was prepared.
It was going to be crowded. While the throne room was larger than most of the rooms in the castle, it was never designed to host more than a handful of people. And from the sounds of it, over two dozen people had come through the teleporter building that had just been completed. He wasn’t sure how many of them he would be entertaining but more than ten was more than the table they had could seat. Norman was going to have to speak with Grobert about expanding the castle or creating another building if meetings like this were going to become the norm.
Then again, having anyone come through the teleporter surprised Norman because the teleporter wasn’t finished. But if anyone were capable of completing it in record time, it was Grobert.
Norman was just glad Grobert had returned. The man’s month-long trip had lasted over two months. Before he left, Grobert had told Norman that there could be delays since he didn’t know what the jungle held. Although, nobody had expected his return to be delayed for over a month.
He did one last check in the mirror, it always surprised him with the face that stared back at him. There was no longer any sign of the burned-out, unkempt, slacker he had been only years ago. Now he saw a face he hardly recognized. It was hard to put into words, but he thought the right term was debonair. He was starting to really like the black-with-red accent attire his people had put together for him. It gave him a commanding presence without being overbearing. And the minimal gold highlights accentuated the gold and black medallion he wore. That along with his slicked back hair made him look very regal.
He had changed so much from that awkward teenager that was afraid of being abandoned, into what he was now. Norman still had those insecurities buried deep down inside him. But unlike his past self, Norman now had the power to ensure those issues never came to pass. It's one of the reasons he fought so hard for his people. The other was that his people were worth fighting for. At least most of them. He was still on the fence about those groups that went to build their own towns. Especially the human group. But protecting your people sometimes meant protecting them from external threats as well as themselves.
Seeing that he was presentable, Norman went downstairs to await his guests. As he was meeting with his equals, he decided to stand on the rug at the base of the throne instead of sitting on it. Princess sat on her haunches to the left of him, giving him an air of authority his mild-mannered appearance lacked. Last but not least, Jacob and Stewart stood behind him and off to the right, ready to assist in whatever way they were needed.
The rough wooden table that served as a dining table and meeting table stood off to the far wall. Four Death Knights waited nearby to move it into position after the representatives were greeted. Moving a table around was far below their talents but there wouldn’t be much room for any other assistants and Norman knew Eugene would demand that guards be present during any talks. So they compromised.
As for the delegation, Norman knew Grobert wouldn’t have brought them unless they were important. Hell, the gron wouldn’t have even come if they hadn’t come to some agreement first. Other than a few gron scientists, they rarely left Grothlosburg.
Soon Norman could hear the stomp of many feet. A moment later Nolix appeared inside. “Your guests have arrived, Lord Norman.”
Norman nodded to the man. “Please show them in.”
One after the other gron entered the room and Nolix announced their titles. As he had suspected, these were high-ranking gron officials. Senior Minister of Trade, Senior Minister of Finance, Senior Minister of Banking, Senior Minister of Travel, Senior Minister of Allocations, etc, etc… And last but not least, the gron President himself alongside Grobert.
Out of all the assembled gron, only the President and Grobert had easy smiles on their faces. The rest looked either disinterested or annoyed to be here. But none of them spoke as the table was set in place and the chairs moved into position.
There weren’t enough spaces at the table for everyone but all of the gron announced as juniors simply stood behind their senior official.
Norman took his seat at the head of the table with Eugene to his left and Grobert to his right. While the gron President sat at the far end of the table. The man’s easygoing smile never left his face.
“This is a lovely town. You have done much with little.”
“Thank you, Mr. President.”
“Bah,” the man waved, “call me Barthus.” There was a round of quiet complaints from the assembled ministers, but Barthus just chuckled.
“Barthus, then. I must say, I was surprised by your visit.”
The man smirked slightly at Norman’s choice of words. Ah, so he did it on purpose. That figures.
“Well, when my old friend returns after nearly nine years of being missing, I decided to stop putting off this meeting. I think you will agree, it was time to make it official.”
“Make what official?” As far as Norman knew, there hadn’t been anything other than initial talks before the Brotherhood wiped them out.
“Our trade partnership, obviously,” the man laughed heartily. “These old farts had more than enough time to go over Grobert’s previous proposal.”
The Minister of Trade took that opportunity to speak up. “Sir, we have hardly had enough time to calculate all of the ramifications of a deal such as this. If you would allow us two more decades, we could ensure that this deal is to our benefit.”
Norman got to witness something he had never seen before. The gron President turned toward the Minister of Trade, and his smile slipped slightly. The Minister blanched and looked toward the table, not meeting the President’s eyes.
“You have had ample time to go over the simple clauses proposed in this deal. Are you saying you are unfit for your role as Senior Minister of Trade? If so, we can promote the Junior Minister here and now.”
“N- no, Mr. President. Just that we haven’t had to establish a trade deal in over a thousand years. I just wanted to ensure everything was in place.”
“Ah,” the President replied, his smile returning to his face. “Well, why didn’t you say so earlier? As for the deal, I’m sure you have gone through it enough times to find any possible loopholes that could cause us issues. So it’s fine. Please present a copy of it to Lord Norman so he can review it.”
The Minister nodded quickly as he pulled open a case and retrieved what looked like an encyclopedia. Norman heard Grobert groan quietly as the man slid the tome toward him.
“Um, what is this?” Norman asked as he pulled the heavy object toward him.
“This is the revised agreement. Please take your time to look over it,” the Minister of Trade replied matter of factly.
Norman glanced at the President, who was doing his best not to laugh. He sighed internally as he opened the first page.
It took three full days for Norman to go through the volume. The time was only broken up by meals, drinks, and quick breaks. The gron had significantly more endurance than humans, so they didn’t need to sleep during that time. And the rest of the people present were undead. So it was the longest and most intensely boring meeting Norman had ever attended. And it was all wasted time.
Buried under all the flowery legal mumbo jumbo was the simple deal Grobert had provided them nine years ago. Minus a few small changes.
The trade deal was simple. Normenia would be allowed to export its products to Grothlosburg and in exchange, they would be allowed to join the gron financial exchange and utilize its currency as well as buy items from Grothlosburg. What had been removed from the deal was any mention of worker transfers.
Norman had asked Grobert about that as he read. The man had whispered that it was a sticking point so it was just removed.
It was probably for the best. Back when they were first established, Ashvale didn’t have enough work for everyone. But now, there was more than enough to keep everyone busy. So much so that they had a lack of skilled labor now.
The other change was the fact that the gron wanted to establish an outpost city in Normenia. The deal outlined – in excruciating detail – exactly what they wanted to do with this outpost. To keep it simple, they wanted to research the undead. Normally they would do this without the locals knowing about it but since they were establishing trade relations, they had decided to lay it out in the open.
Norman might have balked at that except the outpost came along with a large cash payment as well as monthly compensation for the land they would be utilizing. How large of a cash payment you might ask? Well, it was twice the yearly GDP that the gron had attributed to Normenia based on what they knew nine years ago. So a pretty sizable amount.
The money was a significant sum for Normenia but a tiny drop in the bucket for Grothlosburg. Norman suspected that the gron would reevaluate their GDP soon though. This was based on the overwhelmingly positive reactions to the food and drink supplied to the delegation.
Just because the gron were stiffer than corpses, didn’t mean they didn’t enjoy tasty food and drinks. He suspected there might be a small chance of tourism in the future. Or at least an export of food.
The rest of the time was spent going over assets and getting a better picture of what Normenia had to offer. Norman had to call for Nolia to handle this as she had a more up-to-date idea of what exports were available.
“Well,” the President said after all of the ministers had finally left. “Now that that nonsense is done and over with. How have you been? Grobert told me a bit of the troubles plaguing your new kingdom but you seem to have bounced back.”
Norman chuckled. “I suppose that’s true. And we are good. Nothing that we can’t handle on our own.”
“That’s good to hear. Because even if it wasn’t a problem you could handle, Grothlosburg wouldn’t assist. It’s not that I wouldn’t want to, but by the time I convinced the War Ministry of the need, it would likely be too late to do anything about it.”
Norman shrugged. “I would rather be self-sufficient anyway. Although if you have information on human zones, that I might accept.”
The President smiled. “I doubt I could offer you any more information than your friend Anna has. Our scientists moved on to this new zone and its inhabitants. Did you know there is an aggressive tribal society eeking out an existence there?”
Norman paused. “…In the zone between ours? No, no I was not aware.”
Barthus waved away his concern. “Sorry, no. It's in a zone far away. It popped up next to one of our old teleportation hubs and the natives became a bit aggressive when they came through the portal. So we had to shut it down. It happens occasionally. The jorik were pretty aggressive at first too.”
It was a good thing only Norman and Barthus were in the room at the moment, Nolia might have taken offense at his words.
“Well, that’s good to know. We don’t need any more enemies near us at the moment. How is Anna by the way?”
“No clue. After Grobert revived her, she left for human lands.”
“Revived her?”
Barthus chuckled. “I’ll let Grobert tell you that story, it's too funny. But I should be going. As you can probably relate, work never stops. This was a nice little vacation though. I might have to do it again.”
“Well, you’re always welcome.” Norman stood and offered his hand to the gron President.
The two shook and the President walked out to join his waiting entourage.
Norman rushed to get himself presentable. Jacob had just notified him that Grobert had returned an hour ago. But the man hadn’t left the teleporter building. And a gron delegation was now coming through the teleporter.
As he got dressed, he could hear the commotion downstairs as the main room was prepared.
It was going to be crowded. While the throne room was larger than most of the rooms in the castle, it was never designed to host more than a handful of people. And from the sounds of it, over two dozen people had come through the teleporter building that had just been completed. He wasn’t sure how many of them he would be entertaining but more than ten was more than the table they had could seat. Norman was going to have to speak with Grobert about expanding the castle or creating another building if meetings like this were going to become the norm.
Then again, having anyone come through the teleporter surprised Norman because the teleporter wasn’t finished. But if anyone were capable of completing it in record time, it was Grobert.
Norman was just glad Grobert had returned. The man’s month-long trip had lasted over two months. Before he left, Grobert had told Norman that there could be delays since he didn’t know what the jungle held. Although, nobody had expected his return to be delayed for over a month.
He did one last check in the mirror, it always surprised him with the face that stared back at him. There was no longer any sign of the burned-out, unkempt, slacker he had been only years ago. Now he saw a face he hardly recognized. It was hard to put into words, but he thought the right term was debonair. He was starting to really like the black-with-red accent attire his people had put together for him. It gave him a commanding presence without being overbearing. And the minimal gold highlights accentuated the gold and black medallion he wore. That along with his slicked back hair made him look very regal.
He had changed so much from that awkward teenager that was afraid of being abandoned, into what he was now. Norman still had those insecurities buried deep down inside him. But unlike his past self, Norman now had the power to ensure those issues never came to pass. It's one of the reasons he fought so hard for his people. The other was that his people were worth fighting for. At least most of them. He was still on the fence about those groups that went to build their own towns. Especially the human group. But protecting your people sometimes meant protecting them from external threats as well as themselves.
Seeing that he was presentable, Norman went downstairs to await his guests. As he was meeting with his equals, he decided to stand on the rug at the base of the throne instead of sitting on it. Princess sat on her haunches to the left of him, giving him an air of authority his mild-mannered appearance lacked. Last but not least, Jacob and Stewart stood behind him and off to the right, ready to assist in whatever way they were needed.
The rough wooden table that served as a dining table and meeting table stood off to the far wall. Four Death Knights waited nearby to move it into position after the representatives were greeted. Moving a table around was far below their talents but there wouldn’t be much room for any other assistants and Norman knew Eugene would demand that guards be present during any talks. So they compromised.
As for the delegation, Norman knew Grobert wouldn’t have brought them unless they were important. Hell, the gron wouldn’t have even come if they hadn’t come to some agreement first. Other than a few gron scientists, they rarely left Grothlosburg.
Soon Norman could hear the stomp of many feet. A moment later Nolix appeared inside. “Your guests have arrived, Lord Norman.”
Norman nodded to the man. “Please show them in.”
One after the other gron entered the room and Nolix announced their titles. As he had suspected, these were high-ranking gron officials. Senior Minister of Trade, Senior Minister of Finance, Senior Minister of Banking, Senior Minister of Travel, Senior Minister of Allocations, etc, etc… And last but not least, the gron President himself alongside Grobert.
Out of all the assembled gron, only the President and Grobert had easy smiles on their faces. The rest looked either disinterested or annoyed to be here. But none of them spoke as the table was set in place and the chairs moved into position.
There weren’t enough spaces at the table for everyone but all of the gron announced as juniors simply stood behind their senior official.
Norman took his seat at the head of the table with Eugene to his left and Grobert to his right. While the gron President sat at the far end of the table. The man’s easygoing smile never left his face.
“This is a lovely town. You have done much with little.”
“Thank you, Mr. President.”
“Bah,” the man waved, “call me Barthus.” There was a round of quiet complaints from the assembled ministers, but Barthus just chuckled.
“Barthus, then. I must say, I was surprised by your visit.”
The man smirked slightly at Norman’s choice of words. Ah, so he did it on purpose. That figures.
“Well, when my old friend returns after nearly nine years of being missing, I decided to stop putting off this meeting. I think you will agree, it was time to make it official.”
“Make what official?” As far as Norman knew, there hadn’t been anything other than initial talks before the Brotherhood wiped them out.
“Our trade partnership, obviously,” the man laughed heartily. “These old farts had more than enough time to go over Grobert’s previous proposal.”
The Minister of Trade took that opportunity to speak up. “Sir, we have hardly had enough time to calculate all of the ramifications of a deal such as this. If you would allow us two more decades, we could ensure that this deal is to our benefit.”
Norman got to witness something he had never seen before. The gron President turned toward the Minister of Trade, and his smile slipped slightly. The Minister blanched and looked toward the table, not meeting the President’s eyes.
“You have had ample time to go over the simple clauses proposed in this deal. Are you saying you are unfit for your role as Senior Minister of Trade? If so, we can promote the Junior Minister here and now.”
“N- no, Mr. President. Just that we haven’t had to establish a trade deal in over a thousand years. I just wanted to ensure everything was in place.”
“Ah,” the President replied, his smile returning to his face. “Well, why didn’t you say so earlier? As for the deal, I’m sure you have gone through it enough times to find any possible loopholes that could cause us issues. So it’s fine. Please present a copy of it to Lord Norman so he can review it.”
The Minister nodded quickly as he pulled open a case and retrieved what looked like an encyclopedia. Norman heard Grobert groan quietly as the man slid the tome toward him.
“Um, what is this?” Norman asked as he pulled the heavy object toward him.
“This is the revised agreement. Please take your time to look over it,” the Minister of Trade replied matter of factly.
Norman glanced at the President, who was doing his best not to laugh. He sighed internally as he opened the first page.
It took three full days for Norman to go through the volume. The time was only broken up by meals, drinks, and quick breaks. The gron had significantly more endurance than humans, so they didn’t need to sleep during that time. And the rest of the people present were undead. So it was the longest and most intensely boring meeting Norman had ever attended. And it was all wasted time.
Buried under all the flowery legal mumbo jumbo was the simple deal Grobert had provided them nine years ago. Minus a few small changes.
The trade deal was simple. Normenia would be allowed to export its products to Grothlosburg and in exchange, they would be allowed to join the gron financial exchange and utilize its currency as well as buy items from Grothlosburg. What had been removed from the deal was any mention of worker transfers.
Norman had asked Grobert about that as he read. The man had whispered that it was a sticking point so it was just removed.
It was probably for the best. Back when they were first established, Ashvale didn’t have enough work for everyone. But now, there was more than enough to keep everyone busy. So much so that they had a lack of skilled labor now.
The other change was the fact that the gron wanted to establish an outpost city in Normenia. The deal outlined – in excruciating detail – exactly what they wanted to do with this outpost. To keep it simple, they wanted to research the undead. Normally they would do this without the locals knowing about it but since they were establishing trade relations, they had decided to lay it out in the open.
Norman might have balked at that except the outpost came along with a large cash payment as well as monthly compensation for the land they would be utilizing. How large of a cash payment you might ask? Well, it was twice the yearly GDP that the gron had attributed to Normenia based on what they knew nine years ago. So a pretty sizable amount.
The money was a significant sum for Normenia but a tiny drop in the bucket for Grothlosburg. Norman suspected that the gron would reevaluate their GDP soon though. This was based on the overwhelmingly positive reactions to the food and drink supplied to the delegation.
Just because the gron were stiffer than corpses, didn’t mean they didn’t enjoy tasty food and drinks. He suspected there might be a small chance of tourism in the future. Or at least an export of food.
The rest of the time was spent going over assets and getting a better picture of what Normenia had to offer. Norman had to call for Nolia to handle this as she had a more up-to-date idea of what exports were available.
“Well,” the President said after all of the ministers had finally left. “Now that that nonsense is done and over with. How have you been? Grobert told me a bit of the troubles plaguing your new kingdom but you seem to have bounced back.”
Norman chuckled. “I suppose that’s true. And we are good. Nothing that we can’t handle on our own.”
“That’s good to hear. Because even if it wasn’t a problem you could handle, Grothlosburg wouldn’t assist. It’s not that I wouldn’t want to, but by the time I convinced the War Ministry of the need, it would likely be too late to do anything about it.”
Norman shrugged. “I would rather be self-sufficient anyway. Although if you have information on human zones, that I might accept.”
The President smiled. “I doubt I could offer you any more information than your friend Anna has. Our scientists moved on to this new zone and its inhabitants. Did you know there is an aggressive tribal society eeking out an existence there?”
Norman paused. “…In the zone between ours? No, no I was not aware.”
Barthus waved away his concern. “Sorry, no. It's in a zone far away. It popped up next to one of our old teleportation hubs and the natives became a bit aggressive when they came through the portal. So we had to shut it down. It happens occasionally. The jorik were pretty aggressive at first too.”
It was a good thing only Norman and Barthus were in the room at the moment, Nolia might have taken offense at his words.
“Well, that’s good to know. We don’t need any more enemies near us at the moment. How is Anna by the way?”
“No clue. After Grobert revived her, she left for human lands.”
“Revived her?”
Barthus chuckled. “I’ll let Grobert tell you that story, it's too funny. But I should be going. As you can probably relate, work never stops. This was a nice little vacation though. I might have to do it again.”
“Well, you’re always welcome.” Norman stood and offered his hand to the gron President.
The two shook and the President walked out to join his waiting entourage.
