Offices of The Treasury Department

A plaque on the door, tilted slightly to one side, reads ‘Treasury Offices’.

This must be the place...

Madame Naoki examines the plaque, noting its disrepair. Cautiously, she pushes the door inward, and peers inside.

She is greeted by darkness. The room before her is pitch black, save for the block of light allowed in through the open door.

Fumbling around in her pouch, Naoki selects a gem. A small orb of citrine. Holding it aloft between two fingers, she activates it. Piercing light radiates outward from the gem, instantly illuminating the room. Holding the gem such so that the palm of her hand is between her eyes and the glowing orb, she advances into the room, gazing around at its contents.

Dusty shelves filled with scrolls line every wall of the room, and more loose paperwork litters every available surface. Tomes stacked upon chairs, crates of scrolls piled in the corners, bound stacks of documents littered across the tables. No evidence of regular inhabitants or recent visitors is obvious, it seems as if the room is simply a dumping ground for any financial paperwork The Citadel happens across.

“It’s less busy than I thought it might be…” Naoki makes a dry understatement to the empty room, referring to the obvious absence of any employees or treasury workers, or indeed, any evidence of human interaction with the room, beyond the dumped paperwork.

But wait. There, on the single desk situated in the middle of the room, atop a ledger, another piece of paper, with a short, handwritten message scrawled across it. Naoki plucks the note from its dusty perch, and reads it.


She scowls, and places the note back down. Apparently whoever had previously been assigned to managing Isra’s finances had given up, perhaps overwhelmed by the sheer size of the task. She wanders over to one of the bookcases, and holds the gem up to examine its contents. After a solid five minutes of careful examination, she is unable to discern any sort of pattern or organization structure to the documents on the bookshelf, other than they all seem to be more than six months old, and the objects are all stacked in a very space-efficient manner. Spotting a familiar seal on one of the scrolls, she carefully pulls it out, causing a minor disturbance within the stack as the other scrolls tumble down to fill its place.

Taking the scroll back over to the desk in the center of the room, she locates a half burned candle, and places the gemstone in the depression, allowing the candlestick to serve as a stand for her light source. Turning back to the scroll, she undoes the sun-symbol wax seal, and unrolls the scroll across the collage of papers on the desk. If the seal, sealed by her own signet ring wasn’t enough confirmation, the document reveals its identity as last year’s tax paperwork, witten in her own hand, and delivered personally to the Citadel gates just under a year ago. Apparently never, up until this point, even so much as skimmed by any treasury worker.

Madame Naoki sighs deeply, fully realizing the task ahead of her. She had always assumed that Isra’s success had someone behind it all. Some little office of qualified and diligent financial experts, working away quietly to manage the nation’s budget. But apparently, no such organization exists! Or perhaps there was, up until recently - or perhaps not so recently, judging by the dust on, well, everything.

How does the country even function? She tries to imagine The Midnight Sun operating without her work on the finances, every first Tuesday of each month. She can’t do it. The business would collapse in a matter of weeks as problems run unchecked and salaries go unpaid. Who even pays the city guards? The military, or the ministers? Apparently nobody is managing the money!

With a small grunt, she lifts a stack of tomes off the singular, worn seat, and places them on the floor. Taking the seat herself, she lets fly another long sigh, beginning to consider how to best rectify this… situation. It’s very much a ‘situation’, she thinks. Was Ildesias even aware of this? Did she seem like a miracle worker to him?

As the beginnings of a plan begin to take shape, Naoki reaches across the desk, and grasps the note. Pulling it over to sit before her, she takes another look at its message, mentally thanks the author, and turns it over. Within the desk, she locates some rudimentary writing implements, and begins to record, on the back of the note, the steps she would need to take to save the city.

From behind a stack of piled crates, Poros might see a tail protruding. A cat’s tail- a reddish brown, overly large one, at that. It twitches and swings about slightly, suggesting that the attached body is in motion.

“Just a moment,” a female voice chimes out from behind the crates. There is some minor rustling from behind the crates, before the source of the voice steps out into view.

It is, as one may have assumed, Madame Naoki. She stands there, arms piled high with scrolls. She is wearing a fine maroon blouse- the color of the Isranian flag, and a long black skirt. Considering Poros over the stack of scrolls, she greets him.

“Ah! Mr. Welchion, I was expecting you. I am Madame Naoki, head of the Treasury Department. Have a seat, I’ll be with you in a moment.”

With a tilt of the head, she indicates one of the only clean surfaces in the room, that of a simple wooden chair, sitting before the room’s singular desk, still piled high with documents.

Before him, Poros would find a large number of tax returns, no two quite the same, each of them headed by the name of a local business and ended with a statement of the enclosed payment- which has already been separated and placed in the Treasury itself. It is obvious, even to the untrained eye, that the papers on the desk, and indeed, throughout most of the room, are completely disorganized, simply thrown in with no regard given to their placement.

However, one corner of the room is slowly beginning to see change. Madame Naoki has been working, for the past few hours, to begin, at the very least, tidying up the state of affairs. A pair of bookshelves have had their contents indexed and roughly organized, contents stacked and ordered in some way.

It is here that she deposits her armful of scrolls, glancing at the lettering on each one before sliding it into place on the shelves. After her load of scrolls has been safely deposited, she approaches the seat where Poros is seated, and considers the mess on the desk.

“Let’s go ahead and slide this…”

Standing on her toes to reach the top of the stack of crates- and inadvertently giving Poros quite the view as she does so, she takes an empty crate from the top, and deposits it unceremoniously to one side of the desk.

Moving around to the opposite side of the desk, she seats herself in the chair, and with one great sweeping motion, she pushes the entire contents of the desk off to one side, toward the waiting crate, scrolls, books, and loose bits of paper all.

Well. Some of it actually lands in the crate, at least.

Briefly, she leans over, considering the mess on the floor, before dismissing it with a wave of her hand. Something to be dealt with later.

She turns to face Poros, and extends her right hand across the newly cleared desk, presumably for shaking.

“As I said, Madame Naoki, of the Treasury Department- even in this deplorable state it’s in. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Welchion.”

“Excellent. This,” she gestures around, referring to the creaking bookcases and general disarray that surrounds them, “... is the treasury department. You are- presumably, here to obtain a job working for me, here, in the Treasury Department. However, before I go ahead and offer you a job, I’m going to ask you a couple of questions to ensure you’re the sort of person I’m looking to hire, in that you have the appropriate skills, and would seem to be a reasonable candidate. Try to answer each of my inquires with as much detail as you think would be relevant.”


Reaching a hand into the pouch on her hip, Naoki extracts a small gemstone to sate her perpetual habit. A bit of tear-cut emerald, about three centimeters long.

She idly begins to twist and turn it between the fingers of her left hand as she continues, keeping the gem in constant motion. If Poros is exceptionally magically attuned, he may sense tinglings of power in the gem.

“Let’s start with something relatively basic; tell me about yourself. Where you’re from, what sorts of skills and talents you have, that sort of thing.”

As Poros speaks, Madame Naoki listens, and nods occasionally, always keeping at least one ear trained forward.

“Fair enough, fair enough. That’s exactly the sort of experience I’m looking for- experience in practical business on the most basic level. Most of the positions I have in mind all require that sort of knowledge, so it’s good that you’ve got it. Not all of your past experiences will apply, in that you’re probably not going to be actually selling things to people, but financial skills are financial skills, and that’s great.”

She spends a moment in thought before continuing.

“Hm. I’m going to go ahead and say this. Assuming what you’ve already said is true, and seeing as how you’re hardly one of many when it comes to candidates, it is safe to say at this point that I’m going to offer you employment today. I don’t really think many- if any more qualified candidates are going to come along, and I can’t put this show on myself. I’m not left with much of a choice, and you seem agreeable enough. However, I’m going to go ahead with more questions, just because I’m curious. That, and it would be beneficial for us both to know each other a bit better before setting about our task of building the greatest economy this world has ever seen. After I’m done, you can go ahead and ask a few questions of your own.”

She sits there for a moment, contemplating what she might ask next. A great multitude of interview questions lie in her arsenal, she’s done this before for each and every Midnight Sun Employee, it is only a matter of choosing the correct- or rather, most interesting ones to ask now.

“Ah, here’s a big one. What would you like to ultimately become? What is your largest goal, or in what direction would you like to take your life?”

Madame Naoki nods once again, satisfied with his answer, digesting what was and wasn't said.

“Fair enough, that’s an admirable goal to have, to become great in your own right. That should be pretty easy, if you’re to be working with me on this. As you can see, the Treasury is in a... less than optimal state. I was appointed last week by Lord Ildesias, and it is my intention to not only make the Treasury Department a respected and effective subgroup of government, but also to do a number on this nation’s economy. I- we- the Treasury Department, have a lot of responsibilities; including, but not limited to, trade regulation, taxes, the finances of the government, funding the armies, the possible creation of a national currency, the handling of government documents, such as citizenship and immigration papers, and dealing with other groups and nations to establish government sanctioned trade routes. I intend, with this authority I have, to lead Isra to greater economic and cultural prosperity than the world has ever seen.”

Standing, she moves over to a small pile of items near the door. Visibly, one would be able to see some paperwork, a personal bag, and a small collection of fine writing supplies.This is her personal stack of items, separate from the disarray of the office. Without a proper surface to set them on, they sit quietly on an upturned crate.

Bending over again, she begins to sort through the paperwork, attempting to locate a particular form in the stack, tail swaying slightly as she does so. Still facing downward, she speaks again, raising her voice slightly to be heard as she faces away.

“That’s enough of my questioning for the time being; we’ll have plenty of opportunities to chat later. To finalize your employment, there’s going to be a bit of paperwork. You mentioned that you already live in Isra, and I assume you’ve brought your citizenship paperwork with you, so we just need to do these… bits… here. Yes.”

Having selected a few documents from her stack, Naoki straightens, and strides over to place them on the desk before Poros. They are fairly standard documents of employment, and ask such questions as name, date of birth, place of residence, those standard sorts of questions. Also some contracts and agreements, non-disclosure, anti-embezzlement and anti-corruption sorts of papers, stating that the signee agrees not to take unlawful actions with their station and the like.

Moving back over to her pile of things, Naoki selects a quill and small bottle of ink, which she then places next to the pile of forms. Finished with this, she leans up against the desk, turning to face Poros, arms partially crossed over her chest.

“Those are the documents will need to be filled out before you can be technically employed. Some of them are mandated for all government employees, some of them are for my own record keeping of this department. Once completed, and signed by all relevant parties, you will be employed as a member of The Treasury Department. Those documents don’t mention anything regarding the work you’re to be doing, or what your job description is to be, we can work that out later, if that’s alright with you. You will, as part of your employment, receive the benefits listed on this paper here, be paid…”

Taking the quill, Naoki leans over and writes a number in one of the blanks on the forms. It is a generous salary, and would presumably be raised later.

“… This much- and will be provided with government identification, too. In addition to that, will you need any other accommodations, or perhaps a place of residence? You mentioned working with your father, I presume you currently live with him. If your current place of residence is too far away, not conducive to you doing work from home, or in any other way distasteful, I am capable of providing you with quarters- either here in the Citadel, or elsewhere.You’ll be expected to commute here essentially every day, so if you need someplace closer, that’s definitely something I can do.”

“Of course, that’s exactly what I’m offering. I understand your motivations, and would be happy to assist however I can, and if that means finding you a place to stay, then so be it.”

Taking the completed documents, she obtains her own quill, seats herself across the desk, a checking to ensure that Poros has filled out all the necessary blanks, and filling in her own portions.

“There are a few more matters that need to be attended to before you can begin work. I need to finish these papers, fill out a few of my own, and get the whole mess approved by The Assembly. That process shouldn’t take long, but technically you aren’t allowed to begin working with government documents until then. However, there are a couple things we can do that I’d like to get done and inform you of today.”

“One thing we should definitely attend to is the arrangements surrounding your residence. I believe that there are some apartment sorts of things here in The Citadel itself, that you probably have the option of using, or alternatively, we could find you a place out in the city. As something of a business magnate, I own a lot of land in the city, and we could easily find you someplace to stay. Some nice little house in the nice part of town, perhaps. We can do that today, if you'd like.”

Finished with her portion of the documents for now, and having found everything to be in order, Madame Naoki straightens the papers, and files them away into a folder, which she places back with her items near the door. From the door, she turns back to face Poros, and continues speaking. Her tone remains light and conversational, but her tail sways and twitches in what might be interpreted as a mischievous manner.

“Additionally, I’d like to- as is my habit when meeting someone new, offer to treat you to dinner. I’m not sure if you’ve ever had the pleasure of dining at The Midnight Sun or Moonlight Eclipse, but I am of the (perhaps biased) opinion that we serve the finest food in the city. However, before any of that, I promised you the opportunity to ask me some questions. If you have any now, please feel free to ask away, or save them for later- for dinner, if you’d like.”

“We should be able to start tomorrow. All that needs to be done is for me to have a few people sign off on these papers, which I’m sure they’ll be willing to do swiftly. And yes, I own The Midnight Sun, and its sister establishment, The Moonlight Eclipse. I own and manage both establishments and the organization of the same name.”

She holds up her left hand, displaying the back of her palm, and the signet ring on her finger. There is but a single ring bearing The Midnight Sun’s symbol, and Naoki regularly uses it to stamp documents and seals as a mark of authenticity in lieu of a signature. It is also a mark of her leadership, similar to how dukes and lords sometimes wear signet rings for the same purposes. Obviously, instead of a duchy or dominion, Madame Naoki instead controls an empire of the business variety.

“As for the cat stuff, let me just go ahead and address this now. I have these ears, and this tail. Both features are fully functional and quite fuzzy. You can have a closer look if you’d like, and I'm not opposed to the concept of some petting at a later date, but they are -as near as anyone can tell- essentially physical features that you might usually find on a housecat, except they’re on me, and I’m not a housecat. As you’ve obviously noticed by this point, I have holes tailored into my clothing to allow my tail to swing freely.”

Turning about to face away from Poros, Naoki bends over slightly, waving her backside slightly to display the mentioned hole. It is a small, hemmed hole in her skirt, just above the waist, from which her tail protrudes. If Poros could see her face, he would be witness to the smirkiest of smirks; she is enjoying herself, toying with him in this way.

“I also don’t generally wear hats, as they tend to interfere with my ears in a rather uncomfortable way. I don’t have any fangs, whiskers, or any other cat-features beyond the ears and tail.”

To showcase this, she stands upright once again, approaches Poros, and flashes her best smile, even going so far as to wink as she does so. Indeed, there aren’t any fangs in her mouth, simply regular, well-cared-for teeth, and no whiskers are visible on her cheeks. Before anyone gets any ideas, she moves back, and seamlessly transitions into answering his business query, tone swiftly shifting to match the more serious topic.

“The very first thing we’re going to be doing is sorting this all out.”

Raising her hands, she gestures to the mounds of paperwork that surround them.

“This is the accumulated financial documentation of Isra over the four years of its existence. We need to sort through it, categorize, and organize it all into a way that makes it useable for us. The government owes some people money, and is itself owed money by the people. We need to obtain all of the information we can from these documents, and create a functional understanding of what we have to work with. Who owes who what, and the true state of the nation’s economy as it stands before we begin the bulk of our work.”

Walking over to take her bag from the pile near the door, she places it on the desk, and continues to speak as she peers into it, ensuring she has everything she needs.

“From there, the next thing we should do is create a system- a series of connected systems, for keeping track of information within the Department here. We’re going to be collecting and processing a massive amount of data, and it would be nice not to have to do it all by hand. To help with this, I think that we might go and approach the mages of The Conjunction, and ask them to assist us by creating some magical artifacts and devices for our use. There are all sorts of things that talented magical practitioners and artificers can do to a book and quill and it would be very convenient for us to have magical ledgers that sort themselves onto shelves, and quills that write of their own volition.”

Taking the near pile of completed documents, Naoki carefully tucks them into the bag, still speaking.

“Next, after we’re finished establishing ourselves, we will need to go and collect the information we don’t have. We don’t know how many people, exactly, live in the city, what their holdings are, or what they should be paying in taxes. This makes it impossible to accurately tax anything. So we’re going to do a massive census of the whole city. Go around, figure out what everyone has, and record it in our ledger.”

“Then, we’d cooperate with Ildesias and the Assembly to create some reasonable tax codes approved by the rest of the government. The ones we’re currently operating under are very vague and don’t take a lot of things into account that I think they should. There’s a lot of leniency in collection, and nobody really checks to see if everyone is paying the correct amount. A complete reform of the tax system is required, so we’re going to do that. Also budgets. The government is currently operating without a budget of any sort. That needs to change as soon as possible, and it’s our job to do that.”

It's evident, as she continues, that she's put a lot of thought into this, and is vocalizing plans she had conceived previously.

“Beyond that, there are also a lot of smaller and side projects I’d like to work on, like reformatting and expanding upon the citizenship process, creating trade pacts with other nations, and instituting beneficial economic policies, but those sorts of things will have to wait until we’ve gotten the Treasury Department into a reasonable state, and until we have time to do them. I realize that this seems all like a very daunting task- and don’t misunderstand me, it most definitely is, but we’re going to do it, and make it work. It’s going to take a while, and it’s going to be difficult, but I’m going to see it done to a satisfactory level of completions, and am happy to have your assistance in doing so.”

Madame Naoki nods to Poros, an indication of respect.

“Now, unless you have anything else you’d like to mention before we depart, let’s do so and be on our way. There’s a lot to do, so we should get started, starting with finding you a place to live. Like I mentioned, I own a lot of property around the city, and I have a few places in mind you might find suitable. After you.”

Holding the door open, she gestures to the hallway, and will proceed to follow Poros out of The Citadel, making a few brief stops to drop off the paperwork with the relevant parties.

[Exit Citadel with Poros Welchion, to his new place of residence.]

Artemis, who has been lounging outside the door of the rather small office, falls in behind the pair as they exit, a silent presence always a few feet behind.

Naoki usually doesn't address her cat aspects on the first meeting. This fellow must be exceptionally bad at hiding his stares. From the impression she got of him, she didn't think he'd be such an amateur, but she supposes new situations do put a bit of stress on one's social graces.