A Very Fair Trade

Writers: Suzee, Yvonne
Date Posted: 11th July 2014

Characters: Bryvin, Taril
Description: Results of their small enterprise
Location: Sunstone Seahold
Date: month 7, day 18 of Turn 7

Bryvin

Bryvin sat in his office with the latest ledger going over the figures
line by line and making his mark next to each item he'd checked. None
of his under stewards dared to try and slip anything past him. So, to
keep their fingers out of the storehouse, he kept a separate ledger
against which he could check their figures. They knew it and he knew
it and it kept them honest.

There was a tap at the door, then Taril entered without Bryvin's
prompt. He nodded in greeting before knocking the door shut behind
himself with the bottom of his crutch. "Sorry I couldn't come by
earlier. There was a problem with the warehouse. Some idiot thought he
misplaced the door hinges, and apparently they couldn't find them
without me."

"What I wouldn't give for some workers who could think for
themselves." He then shook his head. "No scratch that. Bad idea. It
wouldn't pay for them to understand too much."

"Which is why we kept it in the family for so long." Taril sat across
from Bryvin and leaned his crutch against the back of his chair. He
extended his hand to Captain, Bryvin's canine, who paced over from his
spot in the corner to sniff his hand in greeting. "So. The Minecraft
Hall had some interesting things to say."

"Did they," Bryvin smiled. He was no miner but had been impressed by
the small collection of stones in the pouch.

The merchant unbuckled the pouch from his belt and let the gems spill
across Bryvin's desk. "These are topaz, and fairly high grade. This is
carnelian," he said touching a reddish, opaque lump of stone. "And
this is chrysoberyl." He moved his finger to a transparent,
yellow-green crystal. "Of the three, the topaz is the most
traditionally valuable, and we'll have no problem selling to the
Minecraft Hall or the Smith Hall. Or Topaz Sea Hold-- they'll want to
keep the market on topaz for political reasons. This particular
specimen of chrysoberyl is mid-way on the value scale. It apparently
also comes in green and red, and changes colour. If we can find clear
examples with the colour change, we've made a fortune, although any
gem that exhibits this colour change will be valuable. It won't be
hard to create a fashion for them among the Lord Holders and
dragonmen, especially the dragonmen. They love anything exotic. As for
the carnelian, it's less valuable but still worth something either as
poorer quality jewelry or as wax seals. It's soft enough to carve."

"Interesting," Bryvin said as the gems were identified. He noticed a
small difference in the count of gems but had expected the merchant to
take his payment out of the transaction. As long as his thumb didn't
get to heavy on the scale they could continue their business
arrangement profitably for both. "I will have to make certain the
miners know what we're looking for then." He tapped a finger against
his lips. "We'll have to find a way to communicate other than your
coming to my office frequently, but it wouldn't do for correspondence
to be intercepted or forged. Perhaps it would be a good idea to get
some seals made to identify the correspondence. But something small."

Taril thought for a moment, then nodded. Sending Dodger to Bryvin was
just as risky. The flit was recognizable, and sometimes neither of
them wished to be recognized. "That's a wise idea."

"I'll have something made," Bryvin said. Then he had another thought.
If they were planning for the long haul he should start this from
several angles. "Do you think you can get me a couple of firelizard
eggs? You know, just a regular sort of transaction from which to build
a nice long friendship."

"Possibly. For a friend." Taril grinned. This was familiar ground.
"But it won't be easy. Firelizard eggs don't just show up on the
beach, free for the taking."

"Understood," Bryvin nodded with a wide smile. "Perhaps if things go
the way we hope, I'll have to reward you with a fine ring for your
troubles. Possibly a signet of some sort."

"I think that would be a very fair trade for both of us," Taril
replied. And he meant it.

Last updated on the July 13th 2014

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A Very Fair Trade