The Norwington Family had five shipyards on the Inland Sea.
With negotiations over the Wind Runes trade having broken down, all five shipyards faced exactly the same predicament as Morris Town.
Every warship the shipyards had built that year sat stranded in port, unable to put out to sea.
At ten in the morning, the managers of the Inland Sea mines and shipyards arrived in Morris Town and filed into the town's Council Hall.
Before the meeting began, the colleagues gathered in twos and threes to share their woes.
Their conversations revolved around just two topics. First, trade had become far too difficult for the mines and shipyards. Now that the Norwington Family had broken with the two great families, the mines and shipyards would probably cease production and close their doors before long.
Second, Lord Aldrius had actually gone to Lordaeron in the family's hour of crisis. This had thrown cold water over every family member's hopes. Every manager wore a worried expression, their faces filled with the sorrow of men preparing to go home and farm. It was not that they lacked confidence; their opponents were simply too powerful. They could manipulate shipping routes and trade rules, which spelled utter disaster for the Norwington trade network without a fleet to support it. None of them could see a future. No wonder the meeting room was so lifeless.
When Rowan entered the room, the managers of Norwington's Inland Sea businesses all stopped their conversations at once.
Out of respect for the Norwington Family, they fell silent, their expressions solemn.
Although the boy before them was only sixteen, every manager understood that however young Rowan Norwington might be now, he was still the future head of the Norwington Family.
Nobody wanted to antagonize their future boss. The managers of the