Small Concessions
Ves shook hands with the departing high priest.
The negotiations had dragged on quite a while despite the fact that it was just the two of them. Ves demanded a high price for his personal guidance, but the Vulcanites truly did not want to give up an entire first-class fleet carrier for this benefit.
Though Joja Firebreath was not a professional negotiator, he was a first-rater who had managed to climb up to the upper echelon of the Eternal Vulcan Empire. His intelligence and skillset had to be impressive in order to compete against many other highly capable dwarves.
The bearded dwarf tried many ways to reduce Ves' asking price.
For example, he attempted to make Ves agree to provide his services in exchange for a first-class combat carrier or a capital ship that was not built for combat.
When that did not work, High Priest Firebreath attempted to persuade Ves to accept an older fleet carrier that could still keep up due to frequent upgrades.