07.01g: The Seventh Winter (Fireside Table)

[Joshua]

The young man tentatively says, "Nathaniel Orr... no title..."

[colomon]

"Pleased to meet you," Renny says, with a real warmth to her voice.

[Wyvern]

"Likewise."

Alys samples a few of the fruits before leaning back, leaving her plate mostly untouched.

"You've mentioned difficulties in arranging imports. What are the issues there?"

[Joshua]

"For starters, there's nothing but ocean for at least 500 miles out to sea. Attempts to find the back of this land have also failed, and we were met with some powerful monsters. So, getting to the source of any real materials requires major sorcery to get there and back." He shakes his head. "There are enough mages who have some way to get out, but they are in great demand. Not too expensive, but they take a decent sized chunk of profit."

[Wyvern]

"Hm. Monsters I can deal with, but overland routes are inherently less efficient... and that assumes there's anything out there worth the effort. There probably is, but it feels like there ought to be a better solution..." Alys ponders for a bit, and then turns towards Ruben with a speculative air.

"I'd be willing to bet that an initiate of the pattern - perhaps with the help of a sorcerer or..." she pauses for a moment, looking for the right phrase, "trump artist? - could establish fixed routes through shadow; pathways or beacons that anyone could use given the right instructions or appropriate tools. You'd need to work out how to secure such paths against hostile use, of course, and I'm sure there would be a variety of other issues to be resolved, but it might be worth your time to talk to Eretria, or Benabik, or Morgana, and see what you can come up with."

"Sadly, I have no skill at either sailing or sorcery, so I'm afraid I wouldn't be of much assistance in such an effort. Though I suppose if you'd rather I take the matter up with others and see what could be done with overland routes first..."

[colomon]

(ooc) Maybe I'm extremely confused, but I thought Ruben had now spent years establishing trade routes?

[Wyvern]

OOC: Huh, yeah, his description does mention something of the sort, doesn't it? Um. Possibly a casualty of the GM deciding to roll back to an earlier game start time? I guess we'll have to wait for Josh and/or Ruben's player to clarify, and then, if necessary, re-phrase from Nathaniel's most recent comment?

It's also possible that Ruben's trade routes currently only work when he's leading the trading fleet, using the "lead others through shadow" option of Pattern. I dunno?

[Joshua]

(OOC: Laymen can only travel through shadow when lead by one of you or using sorcery. It is still very difficult, especially for smaller merchants. And yes, earlier years = less time working on it. Because of people like Ruben, they exist at all. I think the description I came up with is fair for having 3 - 7 years to set things up, but am willing to hear other ideas. Will move this to the ooc board, where I've fleshed out my current take.)
(Regardless, Nathaniel's problems mostly stem from being with a small merchant company and a bit of a skewed view as to how much the castle takes advantage of its position. I think there's also a hint of a mage's guild labor dispute, which would make an interesting side-plot.)

[Ruben]

Ruben tents his fingers and puts them to his forehead in thought. "I agree, milady, that the physical challenges should be surmountable. Indeed, pushed to the extreme, I'm sure we all could find a way to bring enough bounty with us on our visits to support the meetings of the court, but that would certainly drain some of the festivity."

"So yes, we can work on alternative routes and corridors, but that won't necessarily solve your more basic problem -- trade can only be based on trust," and that can be tricky to build. Turning to Nathaniel, he goes on. "When your father is able to contract with a mage, how is he able to ensure that his investment is not lost to fraud?"

[Joshua]

"The guild polices its own. That's why they're so expensive. But the other option would be to work with someone who can teleport away and we'd never find." Nate shakes his head. "If we could travel without the mages, it would help a lot. But, I heard that whatever gives you your abilities kills more people than not."