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Disillusionist
The Depot gathers its information by, essentially, collecting rumors and hearsay, whether from Inn guests or from the members of the clan who've been traveling around Sornieth, and then rigorously filtering out the dross to leave decent information behind. The information comes in via reports, or letters, or just good ol' word of mouth whenever a clanmember who's been away finally comes home and gets to sit down and tell stories about their adventures. That information is recorded and stored in an archive, which lies underneath the Depot itself and is maintained by Minaden, certain dragons, and members of the Longneck tribe that joined her and her sister those many years ago, and who now reside with the Lost and Found.
For those looking to access that information, here's what happens:
1. A visitor who comes in looking for information approaches whoever's managing the front of the house that day. Usually it's one of the Longneck scholars who've attached themselves to the clan since Minaden and Amihan moved in, or one of the traveling dragons who's taking a break. Either way, these front-of-house folks usually have a short list of topics that, if the visitor comes in looking for info pertaining to that topic, they're bumped up to Liadlaw. Top priority on that list are the Shade and cult activity, but since the events of Bounty, they've also put elemental anomalies, strange ruins, and Ancients as second place.
2. If the visitor pings any of the topics on the shortlist, Liadlaw will be called to conduct a brief interview with the visitor: usually this is to check if their claims/requests are legitimate. If so, Liadlaw leads the visitor into the archives, where Minaden assists the visitor in accessing the scrolls and books that may pertain to whatever information they need, and/or taking down the info they're sharing - sometimes Liadlaw assists, especially if it's something pertaining to the Ice Field since he was hatched there. They'll usually assist in narrowing down focus, or in leading into other avenues for research, if they thinks it'll help. This is a lengthy process, and can take weeks; in such cases the visitor is lodged at the Inn for a discount.
3. If the visitor still can't find what they're looking for, or the visitor has an item or artifact related to their search, Minaden will call Amihan in. Amihan can use her gifts to get clearer answers - or, not necessarily clearer, but at least a direction. Using Amihan's insight, Minaden can help refine the search and point the visitor down a course of action that's at least not as vague or cloudy as what they had formerly.
4. Fees are discussed afterwards, before the visitor leaves. Charges tend to vary, and can be offset by trading information in return or by performing a service/s for the clan.
I hope that makes sense. I haven't really fleshed out my other dragons so I'm kind of stalling on that front, but that is more or less how the Depot works where Minaden and Liadlaw are concerned.
