The Teelo Norri Benefit Banquet

Lady Sparrow is an elderly Rinliddi noblewoman who arrives in Mirin's Cross about a season before the expedition is due to leave. She is apparently connected to the Teelo Norri cult for almost immediately on arrival she arranged for temporary repairs to the neglected poorhouse building.

Within days of her arrival she has arranged to be introduced to just about everyone of importance in the town and then announces the Teelo Norri Benefit Banquet.

Targeting the resident of one of the finest building in the town, an army officer who'd been allocated the building after the invasion but hardly used it, she convinced him to allow her to host a banquet there. She then proceeded to dragoon anyone of importance into attending and making a suitable contribution to the poor fund. Not that this was difficult - Mirin's Cross doesn't have a particularly active social calendar. As a result it was then quite easy to sell tickets to merchants, scholars and tradesmen looking for patronage and business.

Those who attended found her to be a tiny old woman in an enormous winged creation of a dress, flitting about the room making everyone welcome and acting the perfect hostess. Her Dara Happen is good with just occassional pauses which indicate that she is translating from Rinliddi and the odd unusual turn of phrase. Her maid Shani is on hand to manage the servants and help deal with any local guests who have problems with Dara Happen for Lady Sparrow speaks only that and Rinliddi. The more astute guests noticed that in between entertaining guests and extoling the virtues of giving generously to the cause she kept an eye on every servant in the room.

Probably the person most out of place was the woman who runs the Teelo Norri poorhouse. Clearly uncomfortable in borrowed finery she spent most of the banquet struggling to make small talk with all these people Lady Sparrow had insisted she cultivate.

Since the expedition is still looking for sponsors she is approached at the banquet and she agrees to look at the idea. She asks the organisers to provide a list of what's required to her maid Shani. The next day Shani brings an already signed contract for the organisers to agree to. The clause stipulating that a representative of her nest should accompany the expedition is standard enough to attract no comment.

It is therefore a surprise when she turns up herself in her carriage and pair with a pile of luggage, her maid Shani, driver and two locally hired barbarians as her bodyguard. The two barbarians are riding rather better horses than might be expected and there's a third, even better, horse with a side saddle.

Attendees

Lady Sparrow
Samra and Karima
Lord Copperface
Rasidor Kasdeck, wife Avimya, and son Evidor