After Tyrion carefully arranges the chairs around the table and takes his seat at the front, the rest of the council comes in and takes seats at random, much to Tyrion's annoyance. They don't even sit in the same seats they sat in last time! He ponders making nametags and assigning people to certain seats for the sake of organization, but with the shake of his head and a sip of wine he dismisses the small annoyance and mentally prepares himself for today's main issue:

The Iron Bank.

Tyrion: "Welcome everyone. The first order of business to handle comes to us from Braavos... Chiefly, the Iron Bank"
Bronn: "Aren't those the same shits that you were in deep debt to back when you were master of Coin?"
Tyrion: "They are"
Davos: "What do they want, payback for their debts from the rule of the Lannisters?"
Bronn: "They're about to be shit out of luck if they expect us to pay back those debts"
Tyrion: "The issue, ironically, is almost the exact opposite... Because the Iron Bank invested a fair amount in both the Lannisters and also Stannis Baratheon, the bank has found themselves in substantial debt, and are asking us to bail them out"
Brienne: "The Iron Bank is asking US for money?"
Samwell: "Why would they give money to Stannis Baratheon and the Lannisters if the two were fighting each other?"

Davos: "I may have convinced them that Stannis and his campaign were worth funding"

Silence breaks out in the council as the members cope with the realization that not only had Davos met with these mysterious power bankers on the other side of the world, he convinced them to fund a doomed military campaign for Stannis

Tyrion: "You've met with the Iron bank before?"
Brienne: "You convinced them to fund Stannis?"
Davos: "I did, and, well, it certainly wasn't easy. Very cold, calculating lot they are. After our surprising defeat in Blackwater Bay (glances at Tyrion) we had to seek out funding and supplies to rebuild. We went to the Iron Bank, and managed to convince them to fund us"
Bronn: "Why would bankers give money to both the Lannisters and Stannis if the two were fighting each other? If you do that then you will inevitably lose since one side would be defeated and you lose your bet"
Samwell: "Well you did the same thing for the Cersei and Tyrion didn't you?"
Bronn: "No I didnt give money to both of them, I TOOK money from them both... Important difference... Taking money from both sides fighting each other is much smarter than giving money to both sides fighting each other."
Tyrion: "Davos, how did you convince them to fund Stannis?"

Davos: "Well the gist of it was that Tywin Lannister was at the end of his run, in age so to speak, and once he died the Lannisters would lose much of their respect and authority in the realm. Once that happened Stannis would become a better option to invest in long term as a strong and stable authority that commanded respect in the realm"

Brienne: "Rather absurd thing to believe in hindsight now isn't it?"
Tyrion: "Well they were right that my father out of the picture would destabilize the image of the Lannisters. In other circumstances I could have made the Iron Bank the happiest bankers in the world"
Bronn: "Oh lucky you. You can add that to the rest of the list of things that book doesn't mention of you"
Tyrion (Visibly annoyed): "Back to the point, The Iron Bank is in crisis and we have an opportunity to-"
Bronn: "Are we actually considering this?... They made a bet, they bet on the wrong people, now they have to deal with that. Why should we have to bail them out for their own fuckups?"
Brienne: (Nods)
Tyrion: "As scheming and conniving as the Iron Bank is... And was... And still will be... They make a useful ally to have in our back pocket should a crisis arise and we need a large amount of money"
Davos: "A large amount of money that they don't have anymore because they gave it to the wrong people"

Samwell: "Well the last time this happened and they asked for money from elsewhere it turned out fairly well for a lot of people"

All eyes now shift to Samwell's attention, almost in more disbelief than Davos's confession earlier. After a sheepish pause, he swayed his head to one side and started talking as if he was sharing an embarrassing story from his childhood.

Samwell: "There is some info in the book I showed you that detailed how at one point the Iron Bank actually fell to the second most powerful bank in the world, behind The Rogare Bank, from the city of Lys... The Rogare Bank achieved power when Lady Larra Rogare was wed to Prince Viserys Targaryean, combining their massive wealth into one when the Iron Bank was coming off a series of bad investments... People began to trust the Rogare Bank while the Iron Bank sought out a-, a bail out, but then the Rosare bank collapsed and the Iron Bank survived. Those who supported and stayed with the Iron Bank were granted special conditions as a reward for their loyalty."

Davos: "What kind of conditions?"
Samwell: "Negative 5 percent interest rates for any amount of money requested for a 30 year period"

Tyrion and Davos: *Surprised*
Bronn and Brienne: *Confused*

Bronn: "Can someone translate for me what kind of reward that is?"
Tyrion: "It means that for 30 years anyone who had helped the Iron Bank in their time of need was allowed to borrow as much money as they needed, and they only needed to pay back 95% of what they borrowed... For 30 years..."
Bronn: "Not much of a reward if you ask me"
Davos: "Was it specified how much money they are asking for? Regardless if bailing them out is a good idea or not, we're not exactly swimming in gold or silver ourselves, especially with a ruined city on our hands we have to rebuild from scratch"
Tyrion: The specific number Iron Bank requested is 1.2 million at minimum to avoid becoming insolvent, but that any amount would be appreciated"
Brienne: "1.2 million? Do we even have 1.2 thousand total, let alone to spare?"
Bronn: "Recent total is at 60 thousand. And rising. Slowly"
Davos: "That is a pretty steep price I have to admit"
Tyrion: "Obviously we can't fund the Iron Bank's request in full, but whether we should and by how much is what we are here to discuss"
Bronn: "Ive already heard enough to vote no. They ask for too much money that we don't have for a reward thats not that good from people who wouldn't hesitate to betray us if we screw up. I say fuck em"

Brienne: "I also vote no. Not even a question"
Davos: (Unsure)
Samwell: (Not picking a side)

Tyrion: "The Iron Bank is weak now, but they could become strong again in the future, especially if we need to start borrowing money to rebuild the city, which we probably will"
Davos: "Nations come and go. Kings come and go, Armies come and go. Banks are no different. It wouldn't be any skin off our rear if they go unless there is something in that book of yours that says otherwise"
Samwell: "Well those who sided with the Rogare Bank had to borrow at higher rates from the Iron Bank when they sought out money-"
Davos: "Did the Iron Bank fund the enemies of those houses that sided with the Rogare Bank"
Samwell: "... The book doesnt say, but, it wouldn't be surprising if they did"
Brienne: "How will the bank fund any of our enemies if they dont have funds for themselves? This is clearly a request that should be denied"
Bronn: "What do you think? You used to be the master of coin and were good at it, your opinion matters most of all"

All eyes in the room shift to Tyrion, who rather then looking deep in thought and trying to sort through the clouds in his mind instead appeared quite pensive and reflective.

Tyrion: "When I turned 20, old enough to know Casterly Rock inside and out as well as start gaining friends outside in the city who fed me information, one of the first friends I made was this man named Arric. Also in his 20's, blind in one eye, not very strong and walked with a limp, we were both outcasts and naturally got along swimmingly. One day he mentioned this hand maiden who used to work for my family but was expelled from the castle, who I thought was dead. Out of curiosity, I tracked her down and found that she became destitute on the streets because she had to borrow money from this notorious loan shark who kept her in perpetual poverty... The loan shark himself was this, truly awful bastard named Elron Gundrick. Just a detestable human being if there ever was one."

All eyes were still locked on as Tyrion recalled this memory, knowing it had to have something to do with the decision they were going to make

Tyrion: "Elron made a living loaning money to people at high rates, then doing a number of terrible things to people who didn't pay up. He spent a lot of the money he got getting drunk at brothels, always drinking the same type of, I don't know what it was but it tasted like horse piss to me. It would be easy to poison him and eliminate him as a problem for so many people, so I did... I decided that this man deserved to die, and he became the first person I ever tried to kill... With poison..."

He paused then looked up, somber.

Tyrion: "The poison did the trick. He died, and no one ever suspected anyone did anything, let alone the dwarf son of Tywin Lannister. A few days after that, I never saw the handmaiden on the streets again, and also never saw my friend Arric either... I only later found out that the loan shark Elron was using his money to pay off these rival gangs from attacking and abducting others, so that he could get money from those people himself. Once he was out of the picture, the handmaiden was taken and sold off into slavery, and Arric was kidnapped and held for ransom... His family was unwilling to pay the ransom, so they slit his throat and dumped him into the town square at night."

Bronn and Davos exchanged glances with each other while Samwell and Brienne looked towards the floor.

Tyrion: "My fear isn't that our investment might be a bad one or that the Iron Bank could support our foes should they regain power in the future... My fear is that other people, possibly allies of ours, who depend on the Iron Bank or gave money to them might have their investments lost, and then have terrible things happen to them as a result... Of course, this is speculation since we don't know which other kingdoms or lords rely on the Iron Bank, but I think we should donate at least something to help them. Enough to give them a chance to recover"

Nobody said anything for a while as they processed Tyrion's line of reasoning. It was only when Tyrion himself broke the silence that the atmosphere returned to the room.

Tyrion: "We have 60 thousand at our disposal, I would vote we give them 10 thousand to help. 12 at the most"
Bronn: "I vote no. People make bad bets all the time, this feels like a bad bet"
Brienne: "I still vote no. 10 thousand to the bank is 10 thousand less available to help the people and the kingdom recover"

Davos: "I vote yes"

Eyes shift over to Davos in surprise

Davos: "They're an insidious lot I'll admit, but a little good faith when you need it most goes a long way, and we may need that one day. Yes to 8 thousand"
Bronn: "The hell is 8 thousand going to do against 1.2 million? Thats like trying to fill up an empty sea with your own piss"
Tyrion: "Alright then Tarly, its your vote to break the tie"
Samwell: "Oh I don't think I should vote on this"
Tyrion: "You know more about the history of the Iron Bank than the rest of us in here, you are a member of the small council, and we have a 2 to 2 tie with your vote remaining, you absolutely deserve to have a say on this"
Samwell: "Its just... Well... What if there's some other way? Something else we could do?"
Davos: "Do you have anything in mind?"

Samwell: "...The Iron Islands, when they were first founded, had such a lack of resources, apart from iron of course, that they had a problem in having money for people to use. They couldnt trade anything for gold or silver, they didnt have any to mine for themselves, and what could be stolen was kept amongst the Greyjoys to use for themselves rather than for their own people. What they tried to do was have paper money that could be printed and used in place of gold and silver-"

Bronn: "What kind of stupid logic is that?"

His sudden interruption derails Samwell's train of thought.

Bronn: "Paper money? Money you can fold in half and shove in your own pocket? That would be fuckin worthless to try to use. If I kill someone and they try to pay me with paper, then I'm killing that person too and taking something worth of actual value off of them instead"
Samwell: "If you let me finish-"
Bronn: "Lord forbid if I have something that can print things on paper too, otherwise I could print my own money and be fucking rich. Anybody who could make paper would become fucking rich, assuming the money is worth shit in the first place"
Samwell: "If we use a paper currency we could easily make $1.2 million and give it to the Iron Bank, and maybe work something out"
Tyrion: "We would need to control the value of the currency and its production if we tried this, but it would be incredibly difficult and cause more problems than before. Davos, you're the worlds best smuggler, what do you think of this idea?"

Davos: "In the profession of smuggling, there's 2 and only 2 reasons why people do it. First is theyre trying to move something in secret because its illegal and could get them killed. More commonly though is that theyre moving something in secret because its taxed, and selling it secretly gets them more money... If we try this... This paper money, and people think its worthless or want to stick with gold, people would become smugglers all over the place to get paid with what they want to be paid in, and those who smuggle things to us would stop since we're paying them with things printed on paper now. It would be bad for the people, bad for collecting taxes, bad for business."

Bronn makes a grand and very visible gesture to Davos as if thanking him.

Bronn: "The master of coin thinks it's a bad idea, the worlds best smuggler thinks it's a bad idea. If the two of us agree on this as different as we are, I can't imagine why this would be a good idea to begin with."
Tyrion: (reluctantly nodding) "Its an interesting idea, but at this time not really an option we can afford to explore, quite literally"

Samwell, conceding defeat and internally admitting he could have introduced the idea in a better fashion, slouches into his chair and relents. "Yes for 8000"

Tyrion: "That gives us 3 yes votes and 2 no votes, of the yes votes the majority is 8000 so I'll switch my vote to that, giving it 3 out of 5 votes. Sam, send a raven to the Iron Bank detailing that we can send them 8,000 gold if they choose to accept"
Bronn: "Choose to accept? When has a fuckin bank ever said no to free fuckin money?"
Tyrion: "Good point, a raven granting the Iron Bank 8,000 gold will suffice Sam"
Davos: "Make them have to arrange to come and claim it with their own ships. We're giving them free money, we shouldn't have to use our own stuff to send it to them"
Bronn: (Raises a glass of wine in Davos's direction) "That's two things the master of coin and worlds best smuggler agree on now!"