Discord
Changelog
08-29-2010, 02:35 PM
Sharner frowned at the stack of papers in front of him.
“Alright,” he sighed “explain this to me once more. In terms a child could understand.”
The hooded and cloaked figure across the table chuckled at the merchant’s obvious distress.
“Simple. You, Ranita, the other merchants in and around Bezantur, and many of the other merchants throughout Thay are simply unable to keep up with the ever growing influx of magical items that are being offered to you. As a result, you are now often running out of money before your suppliers can come and take the new merchandise off your hands.
“Am I correct so far?” asked the shadowy figure.
“Close enough, aye.” Sharner shook his head slowly and continued, “I’m not sure the cause, but over the last several months there’s been quite a lot of new merchandise coming our way from the adventurer crowd. I don’t particularly like being unable to pay for what they offer...”
“Indeed,” answered the man as he leaned back in his chair “And so, what I have offered here is for my associates to buy your new inventory on a much more regular basis than you currently experience. We have proposed, that up to several times each day, we will buy your excessive inventory from you and provide you the necessary funds to continue your transactions for new magical items.”
“One thing,” Sharner raised his hand “You mention ‘several times’ per day. How often is that, exactly?”
“That,” answered the figure shaking his head “depends on how often your customers, or others, are around. Our couriers are...shall we say...averse to being in the public eye. They will only come to you when it is apparent you are experiencing a few hours break in your business.”
Sharner shook his head “I don’t know about that. It hardly seems fair. We in the Bezantur Market get far more trade and business than those in Murbant, Thasselen, Nethjet, or any of the puissant towns it sounds as though you’ve already struck this deal with! They’ll have their gold and stock replenished far more often than myself or Ranita since their ‘business’ is a fraction of what we do.”
The figure shrugged and spoke in a deadly soft voice “It is true that this may result in some of your business going to other town’s merchants, however if you do not agree to this, you will be stuck with the same slow suppliers you have had for years. And then how many people will visit you when you have no gold to buy their merchandise when Ranita does?! Or when the merchants in Thasselen or Murbant do as well?
“And besides, wouldn’t you rather have these customers of yours travelling to different locations and returning with merchandise they potentially can’t get around here?”
Sharner’s gaze lowered to the contract again. “Alright,” he started “Let’s say I can handle that. There’s another part to this damn thing I want to know about - the maximum bid price for an item. You want me to reduce my maximum bid by...let’s see...45%? Why in the nine hells would I do that? They’ll just head over to Ranita and get almost twice as much coin for their items then!”
“Because,” sighed the figure impatiently, “Her contract had her maximum bid reduced by 48% and she’s already signed it. Everyone involved will have their maximum bid reduced around 50%.
“And to answer your next question - we require this because our funds are not limitless either. If we are re-supplying you on a much more regular basis and buying your excess stock, we need to benefit from this bargain as well. This is the primary way we do so.”
Sharner frowned and rubbed his hand across his face. After a minute of uncomfortable silence, he reached for the ink quill and wordlessly signed the contract. It was done. The hooded figure began rolling up the parchment without another word when Sharner suddenly thought of something he had neglected.
“Hold a minute,” he said with a frown “What of the new merchants to Thay. You mentioned nothing of them. The adventurers turned businessmen who have, or will be, buying a license from the merchant master? You’re going to them with this contract too, right? ”
The man finished stowing Sharner’s contract and rose, “They are their own suppliers, but my allies and I will be eliminating some of the individuals shaking down their merchants for bribes and taxes, rest assured,” he paused and Sharner could almost see the smirk through the shadows covering his face. “Now listen carefully - we have spent considerable time and resources on most of them already and have a vested interest in seeing them continue to succeed. Do not undermine them or you break a clause in this contract of yours, which will result in your disappearance.
“It really is a shame you and the others didn’t read it more carefully before signing.”
Sharner stared slack-jawed at the man closed the door without another word and left him alone with his thoughts. Realization suddenly flooded Sharner that this was perhaps an even worse deal than he originally anticipated.
All NPC merchants -even faction merchants- throughout Thay have had this similar conversation with the hooded figure or his mysterious allies. In short, because Thay has truly become a realm where magic is around every corner and is readily available to almost everyone, NPC Merchants will have a reduced maximum buying price from what your PCs may have previously seen, however their gold will get replenished if an area is not visited by PCs for a time.
“Alright,” he sighed “explain this to me once more. In terms a child could understand.”
The hooded and cloaked figure across the table chuckled at the merchant’s obvious distress.
“Simple. You, Ranita, the other merchants in and around Bezantur, and many of the other merchants throughout Thay are simply unable to keep up with the ever growing influx of magical items that are being offered to you. As a result, you are now often running out of money before your suppliers can come and take the new merchandise off your hands.
“Am I correct so far?” asked the shadowy figure.
“Close enough, aye.” Sharner shook his head slowly and continued, “I’m not sure the cause, but over the last several months there’s been quite a lot of new merchandise coming our way from the adventurer crowd. I don’t particularly like being unable to pay for what they offer...”
“Indeed,” answered the man as he leaned back in his chair “And so, what I have offered here is for my associates to buy your new inventory on a much more regular basis than you currently experience. We have proposed, that up to several times each day, we will buy your excessive inventory from you and provide you the necessary funds to continue your transactions for new magical items.”
“One thing,” Sharner raised his hand “You mention ‘several times’ per day. How often is that, exactly?”
“That,” answered the figure shaking his head “depends on how often your customers, or others, are around. Our couriers are...shall we say...averse to being in the public eye. They will only come to you when it is apparent you are experiencing a few hours break in your business.”
Sharner shook his head “I don’t know about that. It hardly seems fair. We in the Bezantur Market get far more trade and business than those in Murbant, Thasselen, Nethjet, or any of the puissant towns it sounds as though you’ve already struck this deal with! They’ll have their gold and stock replenished far more often than myself or Ranita since their ‘business’ is a fraction of what we do.”
The figure shrugged and spoke in a deadly soft voice “It is true that this may result in some of your business going to other town’s merchants, however if you do not agree to this, you will be stuck with the same slow suppliers you have had for years. And then how many people will visit you when you have no gold to buy their merchandise when Ranita does?! Or when the merchants in Thasselen or Murbant do as well?
“And besides, wouldn’t you rather have these customers of yours travelling to different locations and returning with merchandise they potentially can’t get around here?”
Sharner’s gaze lowered to the contract again. “Alright,” he started “Let’s say I can handle that. There’s another part to this damn thing I want to know about - the maximum bid price for an item. You want me to reduce my maximum bid by...let’s see...45%? Why in the nine hells would I do that? They’ll just head over to Ranita and get almost twice as much coin for their items then!”
“Because,” sighed the figure impatiently, “Her contract had her maximum bid reduced by 48% and she’s already signed it. Everyone involved will have their maximum bid reduced around 50%.
“And to answer your next question - we require this because our funds are not limitless either. If we are re-supplying you on a much more regular basis and buying your excess stock, we need to benefit from this bargain as well. This is the primary way we do so.”
Sharner frowned and rubbed his hand across his face. After a minute of uncomfortable silence, he reached for the ink quill and wordlessly signed the contract. It was done. The hooded figure began rolling up the parchment without another word when Sharner suddenly thought of something he had neglected.
“Hold a minute,” he said with a frown “What of the new merchants to Thay. You mentioned nothing of them. The adventurers turned businessmen who have, or will be, buying a license from the merchant master? You’re going to them with this contract too, right? ”
The man finished stowing Sharner’s contract and rose, “They are their own suppliers, but my allies and I will be eliminating some of the individuals shaking down their merchants for bribes and taxes, rest assured,” he paused and Sharner could almost see the smirk through the shadows covering his face. “Now listen carefully - we have spent considerable time and resources on most of them already and have a vested interest in seeing them continue to succeed. Do not undermine them or you break a clause in this contract of yours, which will result in your disappearance.
“It really is a shame you and the others didn’t read it more carefully before signing.”
Sharner stared slack-jawed at the man closed the door without another word and left him alone with his thoughts. Realization suddenly flooded Sharner that this was perhaps an even worse deal than he originally anticipated.
All NPC merchants -even faction merchants- throughout Thay have had this similar conversation with the hooded figure or his mysterious allies. In short, because Thay has truly become a realm where magic is around every corner and is readily available to almost everyone, NPC Merchants will have a reduced maximum buying price from what your PCs may have previously seen, however their gold will get replenished if an area is not visited by PCs for a time.