07.01d The Seventh Winter (Fireside Negotiations)

[ShadowOfPreservation]

With a last glance and a wink back at her husband, Lyra leads Ayum off towards one of the large inviting fireplaces. "I'm sure we can come to some informal arrangements. Morgana's come to trust my expertise in such matters." Their conversation fades as they retreat, giving Morgana some peace and privacy.

As they walk, Lyra's eyes survey the room, taking in the grandeur of the winter festival. While genuinely excited by the evenings event, her outward enthusiasm masks some of her ingrained instincts. Subtle glances and gestures are all unconsciously analyzed, a habit that's been hard to turn off, even in such opulent surroundings. Lyra does take note of the large, well-dressed, bear of a man near the entrance that seems to be tracking them casually with his eyes.

"I wonder if there'll be a scavenger hunt...", the young half-elf muses as she pauses a moment to admire a particularly magnificent sculpture, all the while paying attention to everything Ayum has to say. She pauses a moment only before continuing on to the fire.

[Draylen]

"Well!" he says, clapping his tiny hands together and beaming up at the woman leading him away towards the fireplace. "Let's start with the basics. Morek is attempting to establish a currency, a system of governing prices. He's experimenting largely with prices right now, I think the last one was some variety of pepper corns. One peppercorn is worth such-and-such amount of, oh, chickens, but we'd like to create a more successful relationship. And for that, he wanted the help of the merchant's guild here." he rubs his hands, grinning. "I've been tinkering with a coin design myself, but that's not important right now. We also wanted to look at, hmm, import restriction sources that could be enforced globally."

[ShadowOfPreservation]

Lyra didn't particularly enjoy haggling, preferring to make fair and honest transactions with both her suppliers and clients. But Morgana seemed to trust her to deal with the merchant so she would do her best.

"I can see where import restrictions might be important. It would depend on what you were intending to restrict and why. Amber itself seems to have some natural restrictions in that certain items and magics don't function as intended when brought here. That alone seems to satisfy most of the safety and security reasons that I can think of for imposing restrictions. I'm not currently aware of any particular items being brought in that would need to be restricted. The merchant’s guild is certainly open to entertaining any proposals you have in the interest of the betterment of Amber and its people.

As far as establishing a common currency, that seems a quite an undertaking. A gold standard is the system I'm used to from my homeland. If for no other reason than familiarity, I'd prefer minted coins over peppercorns for certain. What reasoning does Morek have for wishing to establish a currency? I can think of a number of advantages as well as disadvantages to currency over a system such as barter."

The majority of Lyra's attention remains focused on the Ayum, watching for body language that would make his motivations in bringing up such proposals apparent. Her purple eyes scan the room on occasion, noting who is speaking with whom. Her glance meets Alystrakos' gaze for a moment, her curiosity rising at the appraisal in that look. Lyra knew little of the woman beyond her name and that she was recently arrived in Amber but hoped to rectify that lack of knowledge this evening.

[Joshua]

(Minor OOC Note: It is okay during negotiations like this to say things like "I dazzle him with some terms I heard form the guild and try to get at what his true intentions are." you don't have to spit the mechant-babble back at him, although that can be fun, especially if you have time to look up or think out a few of the terms. Looks like that's what you're doing. Just offering an alternative to those who might not know and are reading other threads.)

(BTW, if you make eye-contact with another thread. Sending the person a message on skype, IM, or a PM through the forums is helpful. I'm sure Lyra's player already did that.)

(Also Note: This is an example of a player handling an NPC. (yay!) )

[Joshua]

Ayum nods. "Well, having a central source of money prevents great influxes of capital. If, for example, one allows any kind of barter, then what's to say one cannot bring in a wagonful of diamonds, and either destroy all those whose livelihoods depend on gem-cutting or make themselves so wealthy as to be a threat to the existing order. Why, it would be chaos if there were no regulations. I do trust the open market, but when there isn't even a physical restriction on what can be imported or its value, that allows for some major abuses."

He hesitates. "Such as what dworkin or someone like you might be able to do. Hence the desire to voluntarily restrict what one of the royalty might do to destroy the local economy. It is our lives and the lives of our workers, after all."

[ShadowOfPreservation]

"A monetary system clearly has merit, especially for a place like this. Currency, as a universally desired medium of exchange, allows each half of the transaction to be separated, eliminating the need for the "double coincidence of wants" which barter requires. It's less complicated in some ways as is easier to regulate and harder for people to cheat others. But it would need to be a standard that's fair to all and universally agreed upon."

"I'm still unconvinced about regulating importation but I see your point. I'd want to know more about exactly how the system works at present. I can see how bringing in a large quantity of anything could disrupt the economy somewhat. I'd like to think anyone doing the importing would think twice about what they were bringing into Amber. Have you spoken with Harrune about any of this? I've only had the briefest of conversations with him but I believe his main occupation here is that of an importer and I'd greatly like to hear his thoughts on the matter."

Lyra looks over towards the towering figure of a man that has been keeping track of her conversation. Harrune politely takes his leave as the conversation he was having with the man ends. Unfortunately, the Cani Lyra had hoped to speak with begins to walk away while the bear-like man makes his way directly towards her. Lyra begins to call out to the canine, trusting his keen senses will be able to pick out his name being called above the din, but just then an unsettling feline yowl seems to distract just about everyone in the room.

Lyra tenses as a streak of black lightning shoots into the room, manifesting a moment later into a black furred feline in cap and boots that the doorman announces as Rogbar the Mighty. Raising an eyebrow at the spectacle and at a loss for words, Lyra silently prays to Eilistraee for wisdom in all of her conversations this evening, wondering what surprise is in store for them all next.

Eyes still tracking the bear-man and the canine, Lyra addresses the merchant. "Well that was...unusual. Why don't we see if we can catch Harrune before he gets too far off?"

[Joshua]

"I wouldn't worry about Rogbar. His hiss is worse than his... Well, his claws are fairly bad, but he likes the show more than the battle." Ayum sighs. "He is a good business partner. I think he's been getting bored with the import caravans. They've just started to be safe. Or at least, mostly safe."

He waves to Harrune. "I suppose talking to the other candidate for page in Tir-Na would be useful."

[misfit]

Harrune makes his way across the room with only one backwards glance. As he approaches his attention shifts fully to the conversation ahead.

"Ayum, it has been a while. I trust you and your family are well?" He pauses for a response, and then turns to Lyra. "...and Lady Lyra, a pleasure to see you again. I hope you are settling in well. How may I be of assistance?"

[Joshua]

Ayum smiles, "I am well, as is my family. Thank you for the winter gift." (OOC: I'm assuming Harrune is the kind to give small christmas gifts in winter. To almost everyone he knows.)

"We were jsut discussing the restriction of various types of imports in order to preserve the livelihood of members of the city." He will continue his explanation, emphasizing those who would be hurt by Amberites bringing in truckloads of finished goods. However, after a while, it becomes clear that what he really wants is for him to have rights to said goods to undermine / replace Guildmaster Teusus. At least, that's clear to those of you with experience in guild politics, which is both of you.

[ShadowOfPreservation]

"You do present a compelling argument, Ayum. However, I think it would be premature to consider imposing restrictions at this point. I'm sure anyone experiencing genuine hardship would be able to petition the guild to intervene if necessary." Lyra smiles at Harrune, his contributions to the discussion having reaffirmed her feelings on the matter and her impression of the merchant. "I'm more than happy to discuss any other matters with you as I'm sure Morgana will be occupied for a while yet. This might not be my home but I still feel responsibility to do whatever I can to make it a better place."

Lyra lets out a sigh as she surveys the grandeur and ever growing number of colorful characters in the Hall. "This whole event seems so odd to me. It was summer back home when Rasanam and I left to come here."