<hr/><div class="floatleft">(https://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/6/6f/Mayor_cochran.png)</div><br/><strong>Name:</strong>Mayor Cochran<br/><strong>Faction:</strong>Sweetrock<br/><strong>Date:</strong>May 11th, 1876<br/><strong>Time of Day:</strong>Afternoon<br/><strong>Location:</strong>Outside Babel's Tower<br/><strong>Tagged:</strong>Open, Matthew Ford, Bella<br/><hr/>”Yes, yes,” rolled Cochran’s eyes.  “As well as some place called ‘Moldavia,’ but I’ve little idea why anyone would want to live there.  From what Liboria says, you could fit two of them in the Maze and still have room for a few Rhode Islands,” he snorted.  He raised an eyebrow when he mentioned a vow, and gave a laugh.  “Your vow refuses you to enjoy a free drink, and free victuals?  That is a<em>perturbing</em>sort of religion you’ve acquired, sir,<em>most</em>perturbing.”  He gestured behind him, to a building across the street, caddy-cornered to the Town Hall across from Babel’s Tower.  “<em>Sheriff</em>Bilton is either tending to the affairs of his office or enjoying the benefits of it.  Right over there,” he offered, pointing a superfluous cane in the direction of the Sheriff’s Office - large building which clearly comprised a multi-cell jail.<br/><br/>“As to the matter deed, and keys - I’m afraid that’s not my affair.  Whatever J.P. Coleman promised you is beyond his power to grant, I am afraid.  If Bilton is enough enamored of you to make you a deputy, I’m sure arrangements can be made with the Town Clerk - there’s a few small homes in town set aside for Law Dogs in good standing.  If you are looking to buy a property, I’m more than happy to offer my services,” he smiled.  “I just can’t speak to keeping promises a dead man made without my knowledge or authority.”  He considered.  “There are a number of hotels in town, but I suggest you might want to consider your willingness to enter a house that caters to a man’s most elemental of needs - I doubt you’ll find Bilton willing to entertain the prospect of employment for someone unwilling or unable to enter such an establishment.  Crime, it seems, happens everywhere.”<br/><br/>There was bemusement in his eyes.  “And all out hotels are too<em>practical</em>to lose clients on the basis of such a practice.  Some offer more discretion than others, though I expect you’ll pay a tidy ransom for the discretion.  The Golden Mare might be to your liking.  You can hardly tell the whores are whores.  But I doubt you’ll find a room to rent in town that doesn’t come equipped to tend the needs of their clientele.”<br/><br/>He tipped his bowler rakishly.  “Good fortune to you, Mr. Ford.”  He set the bowler and cane in his arms, doffing both as he stepped within, making his way in just in time to see a curvy women of mixed Asian and Caucasian ancestry in a dress with an alluringly high slit.  “My my,” he murmured, eyes admiring.  He’d been tempted to investigate rumors of the mysterious Oriental nethers - miners had spread rumors that their nethers were tilted at an angle that made him both skeptical and curious.  On the other hand, merely stepping into Mr. Lee's establishment gave him something of a chill.  His whiskers twitched with the smile that covered his face, and he took her hand, giving it a small kiss upon her knuckles.  “Do my eyes deceive me, or are you a part of this evening’s entertainment?”  There was an unmistakably lascivious tone in his voice, as his eyes trailed over her dress hungrily.