CHAPTER ONEYou arrive in Folston Ridge and meet with Julietta. She explains that there are two factions of miners in the town. Though they started the colony as a partnership, competing interests have caused infighting within the community. Your first step, she says, is to organize a talk with the factions. How do you proceed? You contact the leaders of each faction and ask them to meet with you behind closed doors. Two or three individuals can bring about greater progress than a committee of dozens. You elect to hold a town hall meeting and invite all members of each faction. Allowing individuals to come forth and air grievances is the first step in the journey toward harmony. Both leaders agree to meet with you. Indiri is representing the valley dwarves, and Wirick is her counterpart for the mountain dwarves. You invite them to the temple of Eraminus to break bread and get to the heart of issues. Indiri’s concern is that the valley dwarves, who provided the majority of coin for this expedition, should be entitled to a larger share of the spoils. But Wirick counters that because the expedition takes place in their territory, that the mountain dwarves should receive more of the profits. You suggest that instead of looking at it from those perspectives, to divide up the profits a different way. They should each take a headcount of their populations, and use those numbers to determine the sharing percentages. After a lengthy discussion regarding the particulars, both Indiri and Wirick agree to those terms and leave to tell their people of the good news. It’s a successful first step in the road to unifying their constituents. The chambers of the temple of Eraminus are packed with members of the valley dwarves and the mountain dwarves. Both sides eye each other angrily as you stand before them attempting to project an aura of calmness and amicability among the crowd. You explain, “Thank you all for coming. This meeting of the minds is meant to bring your disagreements out in the open. Only by stating your quarrels can we move forward on the path to harmony.” Slowly, members of each clan begin to speak up. Some mountain dwarves are angry about the food supply, which is maintained by the valley dwarves. The valley dwarves retort that their mountainous counterparts should work harder – then they would get more food. Your earnest attempt with collaboration quickly swings out of control when the first punch is thrown. Before the bloodshed continues, you invoke Eraminus to cast a spell of calm, artificially lulling the attendees to a quieter state of mind. With your plan failed, you send all of the dwarves back to their quarters for the evening.CHAPTER TWOYou plan to meet with Julietta in the morning with renewed vigor, eager to continue your work in Folston Ridge. But before you get to the temple, a young dwarven couple stops you in the road. The man, a mountain dwarf, explains that they have fallen in love, but his parents object to the union because his partner is a valley dwarf. They seek your council as a herald of Eraminus. How do you advise this star-crossed couple? You marry the couple immediately – a petty rivalry within the colony should not stop their wedded bliss. You take this as an opportunity. If two members of different factions have found love with one another, they might serve as an example to the community as a whole. You ask if the couple would be willing to make their love a statement of peace in an otherwise chaotic time. You escort the couple to the temple and perform the rites of marriage. Channeling Eraminus, you cast a blessing of luck and fortune upon the happy couple. As they kiss, the young man’s parents walk in – they must have gotten word of the secret ceremony from a miner on the road. The couple stands tall together, bracing for the anticipated haranguing that will come next. But seeing the happy couple stand with one another has a surprising effect. The young man’s father goes up to them and says, “Son – you must really love this woman to do this without our permission. I don’t understand it, but your mother and I agree that we must accept it. Please, come home with us. We would like to get to know your new wife.” You watch as they depart, happy knowing that at least some good has come from these trying times. The couple accepts and you task Julietta with spreading the word. There will be a wedding this evening, and all are welcome to attend. You spend the rest of the day organizing food and refreshments for after the ceremony – you hope that this couple’s love for one another will extend to their community and allow the mountain and valley dwarves to begin the long process of rebuilding their alliances. Over one hundred dwarves attend the ceremony. As you complete the rites, the couple begins to faintly glow. A blessing of Eraminus has been granted upon them by the god himself. Wishing long life and good fortune, you look out and see smiling faces among the entire crowd. You are warmed to see a little happiness has come to the colony of Folston Ridge. CHAPTER THREEThings are progressing well in Folston Ridge. You’ve made several inroads with each clan and are happy to see your efforts have borne fruit. But then the unthinkable happens. A mining accident has resulted in the deaths of two of the mountain dwarves’ most experienced miners. Fingers are being pointed at the valley dwarves, who deny any wrongdoing. Tensions swell and the burgeoning ties of camaraderie are replaced with suspicion. With new hostilities emerging, how do you attempt to broker a lasting peace between these warring factions? You organize a peace protest with more sympathetic members of both clans, blocking routes to mines, shops, and homes. By preventing Folston Ridge from functioning, you hope to jumpstart a lasting compromise. You decide to take a more devious approach. You invite the leadership of both parties to a peace summit. But once they are inside, you plan to hold them, unharmed, and defend your position. The clans will need to settle their differences on their own before you return their leaders to them. You and your team arise early, before the workers head into the mine, and position yourselves appropriately. You have prepared well, and have enough food and water to retain your places for over a week. Over the next three days, the miners and other citizens attempt to get into the mine, shops, and other areas of the town. Some succeed, but your small band of individuals are able to cause all production in to come to a halt. By the end of the week, leaders from both parties heed your request to form a compromise between their factions. They talk for hours to truly understand each other’s side on the issues. After nearly 10 days of protesting, you are finally satisfied with their proposal and end the standoff at the mine. Though it was harder than you had initially imagined, you feel grateful to have successfully completed Eraminus’ mission. The leaders follow you to the temple of Eraminus. You have spent the past day fortifying its entrances with non-lethal threats and magical deterrents in preparation for the siege. You sit the leaders down and explain that they are welcome to establish compromises, but that is not the true purpose of this meeting. Instead, the real resolution to their issues rests with their companions outside. As they ponder your words, you head to the entrance of the temple, crack the door, and shout out to the waiting throng of people. “I have taken your leaders captive. If you want them back, you will need to settle your differences and establish a lasting promise for peace.” As you expected, a number of dwarves charge the temple. They immediately become ensnared by vines and lightly tossed back to the street. All around the building, other defenses are keeping the townsfolk at bay. After hours of trying to assault the temple, you hear a change in the sounds outside. They appear to be talking, listening, and understanding each other. The next morning you hear a repeated knocking on the door. A dwarf is throwing stones in an attempt to get your attention. You cautiously open the door and he says, “Don’t worry! We’re not here to fight. We’ve stayed up all night drafting a new Folston Ridge charter, outlining the rules of this town. I’ll think you’ll like what you see.” You read through the charter, and it appears that in a single evening all of the town’s issues have been solved. It’s amazing what individuals can accomplish when you give them a little forced motivation. You release the leaders and are happy knowing that your efforts were successful in the end. Chapter One: From the Advisor's Perspective To bring order to any chaotic situation, you must cut through the hearsay and talk directly with the sources, in this case the leaders of the factions. Only in an open, non-judgmental, private setting do raw feelings and the reasons behind hostilities appear, which is the first step in resolving them. We help diffuse this type of frustration between partners or friends in our practice every day, as we have found that having a neutral third party to hear both sides is extremely beneficial. Often a middle ground can be reached, or brand-new solution forms. In any case, having a professional intermediary often diffuses anger and misunderstanding and helps to heal the trust between parties. Chapter One: From the Advisor's Perspective This appears to be another example of great intentions and poor execution. By figuratively putting all the bombs in one room, it only takes a tiny spark to set the building ablaze, which is what happened in this scenario. It reminds me of a saying I have heard many times, “What do you get when you put 12 gamers in a room? 13 opinions, with everyone agreeing to disagree.” In all seriousness, if you find yourself in a situation between two groups of people and you don’t know who can help you effectively sort through the noise of the situation, give us a call.Chapter Two: From the Advisor's Perspective This scenario is a tough one, as it reminds me most of client confidentiality in the real world. Like the cleric, we are here to take care of our clients, and have our first loyalty to them. If the task you are asking us to perform is ethical, legal, and moral, we will do our best to help. We will also be bound to strict confidentiality in doing so, even if it’s your parents wanting to know what is going on.Chapter Two: From the Advisor's Perspective In my opinion, nothing brings people together and organizers into full throttle more than a wedding or a party! It is important to celebrate these moments in life and use them as opportunities to reconnect with estranged loved ones and family. These moments become personal assets that nobody can ever take away from you. From a more pragmatic approach, if you demonstrate to the world what you want it to be, you encourage friends and neighbors to put aside their differences, roll up their sleeves, and jump in to help. People want to be part of something larger than themselves, but rarely will take up the initiative themselves out of fear of standing out from the group. Be that person who steps out from the crowd and effects change for the greater good. You’ll be surprised how many closet supporters you will have in being the brave one to set things in motion.Chapter Three: From the Advisor's Perspective Standing up for what you believe can be very difficult at times. This, in turn can lead to frustration, which can steal your joy and cause outbursts of anger toward those who don’t understand. Instead of stewing in frustration, help lead the charge to untangle these public misunderstandings. It will not be easy at times if done in a completely above-board and peaceful manner. But, it will eventually get noticed, and opinions will change because of your bravery. If you are struggling with an issue that we might be able to shed some light on, give us a call. We are here to listen, most of all, and shed some light on helping you find the best path through your difficulties in life.Chapter Three: From the Advisor's Perspective To get people to listen, you sometimes need to take a more direct approach. Getting all affected parties to the table with a third party to help untangle the misunderstandings continues to be our preferred method for helping you resolve conflict. Be this conflict between spouses, business partners, or friends, we are here to help you sort things out and find common ground. Give us a call and we’ll be glad to setup a no-obligation listening session to help you make sense of it all.Planning and organizing your resources can be a challenging task. If you want a professional help to organize your financial life, contact Witten Financial. Aaron Witten, our founder, is a game industry veteran and dedicated to helping fellow gamers get the financial advice they need. Contact Aaron TodayName Email Message Choose Your Character About Services Blog Contact
