34 Searing 123
It only sounded easy, how to make a connection with those refugees from Zaichaer. Of course there was the benefit for the Chisuo to have done their civic duty in already helping those refugees to live a little in their jewel of a city, Kalzasi, until they could get themselves settled in through the various charitable efforts from the city's noble class like the Ahtivin. To that end Shuai who had already participated in much of those works, though not out of his own choice as he disliked working with people, became one of the better choices to represent the Chisuo. No longer was he doing his usual work assigned to him by his House. No more making talismans, no more making tools, no more preparing materials; even the work he usually tried to avoid despite it being the specialty of the house, working on and managing the various fleshcrafted thralls, was no longer being shoved unto him even though now at this moment... he would even consider accepting it and doing it wholeheartedly.
The other enterprises of House Chisuo in Kalzasi was one of those things some people knew and some people did not. While it could be more lucrative and profitable for the House to make it widely available and maintain it as an option for anyone who wanted it, that would have made it counterproductive towards the longstanding mission of the house. Indeed, if there was something which could be considered a long term charitable enterprise in Kalzasi, that would be it; that point in itself made it one of the bigger reasons for why the Chisuo never ever had to force themselves to join in any and every 'charity event' held in the city unless they truly believed in it, like the Ahtivin's call for assistance from the other noble houses of Kalzasi in helping to deal with the Zaichaer refugees earlier in the season.
While it took many days, Shuai finally got the core of the plan altogether before presenting it to the elders of the house. While he would like to say it was all his own efforts, actually no not really because that would mean they would give him more similar jobs to do, what he did was actually spend quite a bit of time communicating his thankfulness for the opportunity to do this task and all the help and cooperation of the other members of the house because he could not do it on his own. Yes, the typical pitch- thank his much more savvy bodyguard for briefing him on it but not wanting to lose his bodyguard to other activities the house may prioritize, Shuai left Skammak's involvement out of and instead went at length on the contributions of those like Jam, Bo and Ree. "I really could not have done any of this without them. We all know the intricacies of necromancy is something that is lost to me even if I am a proud member of Chisuo and I'm still but a fledgling in scrivening. Heck if I wasn't born a Chisuo I wouldn't know how I'd live since I could barely even crunch the numbers together without Ree's help." So yeah that's right, next time just ask them to do the work instead.
Which ended up as the plan despite the presentation having been completed without a hitch but that did not mean Shuai was off the hook yet, there were still some things to do and it was only because Shuai was a main member of the family that he was qualified to do it. "What?!" Well if the idea was responsibility and reliability which could not be delegated to just about anyone else, it did also make sense to Shuai that he ended up being unable to reject the position.
"Well the both of you were with me in those days. Who do you think I should meet up with this?" he asked his two bodyguards a little bit later. Thinking back on his part activities with the refugees, "maybe I could get some other noble's collaboration on this? That Novalys kid or the Ahtivan?" No, Ruborodean was right, this was strictly a Chisuo enterprise and there would be no benefit to bringing in another noble family even if they were so inclined to help, no benefit to the Chisuo and any other house. "Fine so I'd need to work with those refugees by myself. How about the point of contact? You think after the task for that family they would be willing to vouch for us? Or those guys we've been supplying those cheap lodestones and talismans to so the refugees wouldn't be scammed?" Again no, Skammak was right this time. Those people while they may be useful to get them in, it would not help the Chisuo's efforts in the long term once their connections have been exhausted. The hulking bodyguard's suggestion did seem workable however, "we go straight to the top. But who are their community leaders you are suggesting me to meet? You mean you don't know either? Then why did you suggest it? Why don't you go out and find out for me then?"
No, Skammak was right. Using a fleshcrafted thrall would probably set the effort season's back because it did involve some specific contracts for getting the loans and it would not be a good idea to introduce those to the refugees, at all. "Fine, I'll think of something."
And as it turns out it did not even need to be him. Shuai just sent one of the officers of the institution to make some discreet enquiries, he himself invited a few of the nobles he worked with during the relief efforts earlier in the season for lunches and dinners to squeeze out some information and most of them came back with the same answer. Now that was a pillar of the community; if everyone else was not just talking him up, the man really did seem to be someone who wanted to make sure his fellow refugees could live more like people and also appreciated the precarious position of not getting on the more intolerant of the Kalzasi's nerves. Without him, the refugee situation in Kalzasi could very well have been worse seasons ago, both for the city and those Zaichaer refugees it was currently playing host to.
"Set up a meeting. Wait no, don't set up a meeting. We already did the legwork with that charity garbage, we'll just follow up on them. Get some of the same stuff prepared, then get in touch with someone in Ahtivan to see if they can hook us up. I don't know. use any excuse. We need someone to help us distribute or... wait yeah that's better. We need feedback to prepare more stuff next time." Was Shuai going too hard into this? Maybe. But the Chisuo already had the reputation in the city so it would not even seem too forced or suspicious. "No, no don't send me first." That Shuai felt would make it seem like he is going to hard into it and that would be suspicious. "Send Bo instead. He knows his way around logistics." It was funny that Shuai knew less about his house than his own bodyguards but then again, it was their job too- following Ruborodean's corrections "I mean Jam. Send Jam. We need someone who knows all the technical terms so they'd think we actually know what we're doing." And how long would it take...?
Not too long Shuai hoped. By his count all they needed was that one meeting. "Just tell Jam to come right back to me with the feedback and the numbers. And get me one of those censures on the refugees!" Ah what would Shuai do without that street smart Skammak. "I mean census. Get a census on the refugees. Don't mistakenly say it as censure like I did or we'd be screwed!"
And after that all he would have to do was wait. Such was someone forced on a leadership position. He did not even need to do anything. He could just push all those tasks to someone else to do and he could just rest and relax and do whatever he wa- 'Those fucking old farts! They're doing the exact thing I'm doing!' "Skammak! We're going to the main building. I want to talk to my uncle. Yes, of course I don't know where he is now that's why I have to go there and ask. If I didn't know him any better I bet he's out on his way to watch one of those plays that woman he's pining for is in. I have no interest in those things so no, I don't want to catch him there at the venue" but actually yes, he did want to catch the man at the venue now that he has had that last revelation.