Muirfinn's diary (Moore)

[Nephrite]

"He must not trust us, Moonlight." Moore says with a merry laugh as he flies to and through the door.

[Anastasia]

"Or he was nice enough to make our trip easier," Moonlight whistles as you go along. The door opens to a wide, rich hallway decorated with carpets and paintings. Little waterfalls run along the wall, not splashing at all as glass is layered over them. Doors are on both side of the wall, and a little mote of light appears and goes to the third door on the right, bobbing up and down in front of it.

[Nephrite]

"He clearly wants this to go well... though, for him or for us, I wonder." Moore says. "Hopefully we'll make sure to stay afloat with whatever they throw at us and not go under."

He flies towards the door with the light on it!

[Anastasia]

The door opens as you approach. Inside is a well appointed office, all richly polished wood and knick knacks. The figure behind the desk is a creature made of silver and gold, humanoid and wearing a purple toga with gold thread. He rises and smiles, voice smooth and urbane, "Xanar IV, specializing in contracts, pacts and bindings." On seeing you he merely nods, "I'd offer to shake your hand, but..." he spreads his metal hands out.

[Nephrite]

Moore offers a bow. "I understand the sentiment regardless. I am Moore, this is Moonlight. It would seem you know why we're here, but let us make our position clear." He clears his throat. "I had never heard of magical contracts before, can you tell me a bit more about them and how exactly they enforce anything?"

[Anastasia]

"With geases, curses and magic," Xanas IV replies smoothly, "We have an entire line of custom build geases to enforce compliance and ensure all parties maintain their contractual obligations. For example, let's take our spymaster package. In this case, if any signatory violates the terms of the contract, they can be freely scryed through it, as well as clairaudience and clairvoyance effects if those are preferred. Additionally, the location of the signatory will be known to the other signatories. This is best for contracts where a signatory may attempt abscond, such as when a great deal of material valuables are involved."

[Nephrite]

Moore nods. "Ah, I think I understand. Well, since it seems Filbrez has announced us, how do you suggest we proceed? Or do you need more information before you have advice we can heed?"

[Anastasia]

"I know the basics. Let me ask you a series of questions instead. First of all, how much security and power in your contracts do you need? How powerful are the signatories going to be?"

[Nephrite]

Moore considers this for a moment. "Since we can't be sure how successful of a venture this is going to be as of yet, I would err on the side of caution and say a great deal. We may be working with unknown entities during this, so having protection from that would be ideal."

[Anastasia]

"That cna be done," he goes on, "In that case, we'd likely want a contract sealed with blood. A drop from each signatory powerfully binds them to the contract, making escape extremely unlikely. Now, it must be understood that even the best contract can be nullified. We go to every effort to ensure our contracts are binding, but nothing is impossible. Blood is the strongest sort of contractual binding, save for a soul binding. A soul binding is...sub optimal in most other categories and presents challenges, so I recommend blood."

[Nephrite]

Moore nods. "Very well, that makes sense."

[Anastasia]

"Now then, what sort of penalties and precautions do you want in place in case of breach of contract?" Xanas IV asks, "I reckon we have something that'll work for whatever your needs are."

[Nephrite]

Moore considers this for a moment. "Something that would prevent them from doing business with devils or our enemies, I think would be sufficient."

[Anastasia]

"So the non-compete package," Xanas says, "Now do understand the practical limitations of this. We can prevent them from knowingly working with devils, but we can't stop them past a certain point in the chain. If they don't know the merchant who buys from the distributor goes straight to Hell, there's not much that can be done. This helps open breaches of contract, but it's wise to select your clientele smartly to further mitigate this risk."

Moonlight's gazing off at nothing at all, nodding every once in awhile.

[Nephrite]

Moore nods. "Yes, I think that's fine. Realistically we won't be working with anyone untoward anyway, but this gives us legitimacy and can be used in our favor to sway."